Census: Growth in Stow Municipal Court Districts

The , which serves 16 community districts, saw a growth of about 11,000 people despite a  in population throughout Ohio in 2010.

Now, the court serves 190,000 people, according to the . In 1990, the court served 160,000 people when it was in Cuyahoga Falls.

“We moved to Stow and built the new courthouse, knowing that our district would continue to grow, particularly in the northern part of the county,” said Stow Municipal Court Judge Kim Hoover.  “We are well-prepared and ideally situated to serve the needs of our growing constituency.” 

The court's growth during the last 20 years has "been so great that it now serves a larger population than the Dayton, Parma and Youngstown [Municipal] Courts and may soon surpass the declining population served by the Canton Municipal Court," Hoover said.

During a community meeting at  in February, Hoover said "we built a court to serve this burgeoning population. We’re going to continue to grow, to the point where we are the fifth- or sixth-largest [court] in the state."

For comparison, the Akron Municipal Court serves about 250,000 people and the Barberton Municipal Court serves about 110,000 people.

"The big four biggest [courts] are Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and then Toledo," Hoover said.

 “We are pleased that during these economic times we have been financially successful and resourceful so as to not overburden our communities with operational costs.  The continued population growth has been a plus,” Stow Municipal Court Judge Lisa Coates said.

The Court serves the cities of Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Hudson, Twinsburg, Tallmadge, Macedonia and Munroe Falls; the villages of Northfield, Reminderville, Silver Lake, Boston Heights and Peninsula; the townships of Sagamore Hills, Northfield Center, Twinsburg and Boston.