James W. Brown is a Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court judge.
The scourge of domestic violence is ever-present and growing in Franklin County.
One only has to watch the evening news to understand the scope and severity of the problem. Nearly everyone in our community has been touched in some way by it — as a survivor, as a loved one of a victim or survivor.
While homicide rates across our city have declined in recent years, the proportion of those deaths tied to domestic violence has steadily risen.
So far in 2025, the city of Columbus has recorded 59 homicides, with domestic violence being a factor in about 32% of those cases. By contrast, in 2024, the city saw 23 domestic violence-related homicides, representing 19% of all homicide cases.
In 2023, 17% of homicides were domestic violence cases, and in 2022 that figure was just 5%. Each percentage point represents real lives lost, families shattered and children left to grapple with trauma that often lasts a lifetime.
The Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court is committed to doing everything in our power to confront this crisis.
The number of survivors seeking help continues to rise
Our mission is not only to adjudicate cases but to create safer futures through evidence-based practices, innovative policies and strong community partnerships. We know that every decision we make has ripple effects on safety, stability and healing.
One of our most significant achievements in recent years has been the creation of the Franklin County Family Protection Center.
Here, survivors can obtain civil protection orders, access critical services, and connect with advocates in a single, trauma-informed space.
With the number of survivors seeking help continuing to rise, we have recognized the urgent need to expand services — including the addition of another magistrate to help reduce the crushing caseloads our judges face.
Courts are taking new approaches
Franklin County domestic relations and juvenile court judges currently handle more cases per year than the domestic courts in Cuyahoga or Hamilton counties, underscoring the need for additional judicial resources to serve families efficiently and effectively.
We are also pursuing new approaches that keep survivors safer and hold respondents accountable.
For example, a dedicated contempt of court docket would provide timely relief when protection orders are violated.
Survivors often do not want the respondent incarcerated, but they do want the violations addressed by the court. A contempt docket would allow for measured, immediate judicial responses to these violations, giving survivors both protection and a sense of agency.
Another promising initiative is the establishment of a review docket. Current statutes allow civil protection orders to address a broad range of issues: removing a respondent from the home, safeguarding pets, maintaining utilities and phones and requiring the surrender of firearms. But too often, compliance with these orders is not systematically monitored. A review docket would allow judges to ensure that critical protections — especially firearm relinquishment — are actually followed, reducing the risk of lethal violence.
Our Family Protection Center and staff have also taken steps to better serve the diverse needs of our community.
We have refined paperwork to be more inclusive and trauma-informed, expanded translation services with the many languages spoken in Franklin County, and implemented the Hope Card Project to give survivors a discreet, portable way to show law enforcement that they have a civil protection order.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, but the truth is that awareness must extend beyond these 31 days.
Domestic violence is not confined to the home — it spills into workplaces, schools, hospitals and neighborhoods. It is not a “private matter” but a public crisis that demands our collective attention.
As a court, we pledge to continue evolving and improving our strategies. But we cannot do this work alone.
We need the community — neighbors, employers, faith leaders, policymakers and everyday citizens — to expand awareness, reduce stigma and support survivors in meaningful ways.
Together, we can make Franklin County a place where survivors are believed, supported and protected and where fewer families bear the devastating toll of domestic violence.
James W. Brown is a Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court judge.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Domestic violence deaths on rise in Columbus area. How courts are aim to save lives | Opinion
Reporting by James W. Brown / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
