Judge Coss announces re-election bid in 2014

Judge Rocky Coss will be a candidate in 2014 for re-election as the judge of the Highland County Common Pleas Court General and Domestic Relations Divisions.

Coss was appointed to the office effective August 25, 2008 and was elected to a six-year term in November of 2008.

“It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Highland County for the past five years and I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve them in this very important office in the justice system," Coss said.

"My staff and I have worked very hard during the past five years to turn the court around and I feel that we have made it one of the highest performing common pleas courts in Ohio.”

During the past five years, Judge Coss made the court’s docket one of the most current in Ohio.

There have been no criminal cases pending past the Ohio Supreme Court time guidelines since April of 2009.

From September 1, 2007 to September 1, 2008, the average time to complete a criminal case from indictment to sentencing was 277.77 days.

For the period of September 1, 2012 to September 1, 2013 it was 135.33 days, a reduction of more than 50 percent.

There have been no past pending civil or domestic relations cases for over three years. Civil jury cases are now scheduled for trial within a year after the parties are served, and civil non-jury case trials are scheduled within six to nine months depending on the type of case.

Judge Coss implemented a system for jury trials that has significantly reduced the time to try a case. Forty-three of the 55 jury trials that Judge Coss has conducted have been completed in one day.

A video conferencing system installed in March of 2009 allows the court to conduct video arraignments from the Highland County Justice Center and from other county and state corrections facilities around the state.

The court has conducted an average of 23 video hearings per month, 15 percent of those being for prisoners in facilities outside of the county which has resulted in a significant savings in the Sheriff’s expenses for transportation of prisoners.

The court’s website was established in February of 2011 and includes the court calendars and case information. The site not only provides a valuable resource to the public but reduces the number of telephone and in person inquiries received by the court and clerk of courts staff.

Good financial management has also been implemented by Judge Coss. The court’s general fund budgets for each year have been less than the court budget for 1988. The court’s expenditures were less than the budgeted amount every year except 2010 when a capital aggravated murder trial lasting 12 days was conducted requiring extraordinary jury expenses.

In March of 2011, Judge Coss was appointed by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice O’Connor to serve on the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Case Management. He currently serves as the Chairman of the General Division Subcommittee on Statistical Reporting.

Coss was a presenter on case management at the Supreme Court New Judges Training Conference in April of 2013. He also serves on the Ohio Judicial Conference Court Administration Committee and participates in the new judges mentoring program. Judge Coss has also been appointed to serve as a visiting judge in eight other counties by the Chief Justice.

Prior to becoming judge, Coss served as the Highland County Prosecuting Attorney for 24 years and engaged in private practice of law for over 32 years.

He has been active in numerous civic and charitable organizations since 1976. Judge Coss is married to Gayle Coss who is the Director of the Highland County Society for Children & Adults. They live on a farm in Union Township.