COMMUNITY PROSECUTION
Community Prosecution coordinates the efforts of City departments (i.e., Police, Fire, Health, Community Development, City Planning and Buildings) to address quality of life issues in Elyria neighborhoods.
City Prosecutors are assigned the additional duties of representing the City of Elyria in cases, civil and criminal, that affect the quality of life of the citizens in the neighborhoods of Elyria.
HOUSING DOCKET
Handles violations of any building, housing, sanitation, health, fire, zoning or safety code, ordinance, regulation or statute applicable to buildings, structures, or any other real property.
LIQUOR PERMITS
Upon filing an application for a liquor permit, the Ohio Division of Liquor Control allows the City of Elyria to request a hearing on the advisability of the issuance or transfer or the permit. These cases are civil administrative hearings held both locally and in Columbus.
NUISANCE ABATEMENT
Nuisance abatement actions are civil actions filed in the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas. Nuisance abatement cases can involve protracted litigation, but are designed to enjoin the use of property as a public nuisance.
Public nuisances are defined as properties that are “felony drug houses,” “habitual resorts for felons,” locations of “lewdness, assignation, or prostitution,” or residential buildings that are a menace to the public health, welfare, or safety of the public.
HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACTORS
Codified Ordinances of the City of Elyria sets forth the standards that home improvement contractors are required to meet as they do business with the residents of the City of Elyria. Home improvement contractors who violate these requirements can and will be prosecuted criminally. Anyone who suspects that they have been the victim of a home improvement contractor should contact the Community Prosecutor.
TRADITIONAL CRIMINAL CASES
Individuals charged with traditional criminal offenses that have a unique impact on communities are prosecuted by the Community Prosecution Section.
Such charges have included criminal damaging (for graffiti), open dumping, prostitution, loud noise, barking dog, assault, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, drug offenses and littering