About the Court

Court Administrator Eric Shafer 937- 225-4267 eshafer@mcjcohio.org

Human Resources Director Leigh Williams 937-496-7707 leigh.williams@mcjcohio.org

The Juvenile Court Administration department is under the direct supervision of the Court Administrator, Eric Shafer.  With over 26 years of service to the Juvenile Court, Mr. Shafer started in 1994 as a Probation Officer and has held various roles within the Juvenile Court.  Mr. Shafer is responsible for supervising all operations of the Court to include 500 full and part time staff.  Reporting directly to Mr. Shafer are the Assistant Court Administrator, Human Resources, Volunteer Services, Psychological Services, support staff, and the Directors of the eight other Court departments.  The Juvenile Court employs 12 Magistrates who are appointed by the Juvenile Court Judges.

A Magistrate is appointed by the Administrative Judge and has the powers and authority to hear cases on behalf of the Judges of this Court.  The Magistrates hear delinquency, traffic, dependency, abuse, neglect, custody, child support, parentage, unruly, contempt cases and related matters assigned to the Honorable Helen Wallace and/or the Honorable Julie Bruns.

The Human Resources function practices in the areas of compensation management, recruiting, organizational development, training and benefits administration.  The Court’s recruiting and hiring process was defined through the establishment of consistent procedures used throughout all Court departments. In an effort to ensure the employment of the best-qualified applicants, Human Resources directs the pre-employment process which includes mandatory fingerprint processing for those employees working in areas responsible for a child’s care in and out-of-home care setting.

Volunteer Services provides volunteer Guardian Ad Litems for neglected, dependent and abused children, and coordinates the Natural Helper program.

The Psychological Services department is responsible for providing psychological evaluation services for referred youth to aid Court staff in case planning. Consultative services are available to assist in determining the best possible dispositional alternative. It is also the responsibility of this department to conduct competency and amenability evaluations, as directed by the Juvenile Court Judges or Magistrates.