Fairfield County law library is a handy asset for both lawyers and public
LANCASTER − Libraries may have changed the way they operate in many ways in the digital era. But that doesn't mean they are not still important, including the Fairfield County law library in the Hall of Justice at 224 E. Main St.
The law library mostly serves attorneys and others in the various legal professions. But it is also open to the public. It still has books, but not as many as it once did.
"When legal research shifted online these law libraries almost became a burden to the bar associations," assistant county prosecutor Josh Horacek said. "They weren't used frequently. Most lawyers had their own subscriptions to the online research services."
The state general assembly mandated law library resources boards in 2010 to take them over and make them public instead of the semi-public status they once had. Horacek is a member of the local five-member resource board. The Ohio Revised Code says the law libraries must provide legal research, reference and library services to those in the legal fields.
Their secondary mission is to provide those services to the public, including online data basis and child support calculators.
Like any other library, the law library is free to use. It gets most of its funding from court fines and forfeited bail from the common pleas, probate and municipal courts, along with some grants. The library had about $130,000 in revenue in 2017, 2018 and 2019. It dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic but is up to about $110,000 this year.
"I think we'll be within our budget," Horacek said. "We're not going to need any money from the county commissioners. Going forward, we're expecting to see those revenues hopefully recover at some point. The cost of legal research services does go up every year. That's just the way of the world. But right now we are able to live within our means."
The law library has features a television, copier, printer and meeting room.
"We're still a library, too, so we still have books," Horacek said. "Not as many as we once had. Every year there are fewer and fewer. We do keep several sets of books up to date. With legal research books, if they're not kept up to date they're useless. So, if you see a nice set of books in peoples' offices, if they're not being updated they're really just decorations."
The local law library has copies of the ORC and legal handbooks the board keeps updated. Its main room is named after the late former county common pleas court judge Chris Martin. It also has a part-time librarian who works three or four hours a week.
The law library is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
"I'm proud of our law library," Horacek said. "I think it does a nice job. It's not Franklin County's law library, but it serves the public pretty well."
jbarron@gannett.com
740-681-4340
Twitter: @JeffDBarron
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: County law library is a handy asset for both lawyers and public
