Judge Bill Joseph spoke to Zanesville City Council

ZANESVILLE, Ohio-  A Zanesville Judge spoke to Zanesville City Council about the Municipal Court Probation Department..

Judge Bill Joseph spoke at the second City Council meeting of September. He wanted to thank City Council for giving additional money to hire a new probation officer.

“It ended being about a dollar an hour more just so I could meet what he was making in another department,” said Judge Joseph. “It’s important to get somebody to do the job dealing with our grant, and they did that. They allowed me to hire Chad Smith and he saved our $60,000 a year grant.”

The money was approved two and a half years ago, and it allowed the Judge to hire someone he thought was competent. In the meeting, Judge Joseph told all the good Smith has done since taking over.

“We were told that we were on the verge of losing our grant (two and a half years ago,)” said Judge Joseph. “Which meant the city would have to pick $60,000 a year out of general funds. We went from on the verge of losing the grant to now being in total compliance, getting a $7,000 raise each year, getting a $9,600 bonus last year and being nominated as one of the top three probation departments in the state.”

Judge Joseph wanted to acknowledge this impressive turnaround and the City Council be made aware.