Dan Behrens, right, is retiring after 50 years as a magistrate in Marysville Municipal Court. A reception was held Friday in the courtroom to honor Behrens, who primarily handled duties in small claims court. Behrens is pictured with his replacement as magistrate, Rebecca R. Pokorski, left, and Marysville Municipal Court Judge Robert Parrott. (Journal-Tribune photo by Ally Lanasa)
Magistrate Daniel Eckert Behrens announced his retirement from the Marysville Municipal Court after 50 years of service.
The court and The Union County Bar Association commemorated Behrens with a retirement gathering Friday at the Marysville Municipal Court, 1250 W. Fifth St.
“Dan will be missed by the court, the staff and the citizens of the county. We have never had a Municipal Court, for the last 50 years, without him,” said current Municipal Court Judge Robert Parrott. “It is with regret that we lose a fine judge and equally fine individual. Dan has always been a strong supporter of his community. We are grateful for his service to the court and to the people of Union County. We wish him the best on a well-deserved retirement.”
Behrens’ last day in court is Dec. 28.
“It’s just time,” the magistrate said. “My brain doesn’t work as well as when I was 35, 40 or 45 or even 50. It just doesn’t work as well.”
Behrens, 78, graduated from Marysville High School in 1961 and earned his bachelor’s degree at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1965. He graduated from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1968, then he was admitted to the Ohio bar.
After law school, Behrens worked for Ohio Attorney General William B. Saxbe. He was also in the U.S. Army National Guard and attended Officers Candidate School.
Then, Behrens served as the domestic relations referee under Judge Joe Grigsby in Common Pleas Court.
“My main job was to make a recommendation as to what should happen with the children. Who gets custody? For how long?” he said.
Former Municipal Court Judge Robert Evans appointed Behrens in late 1971 as the “small claims referee,” which later changed to “magistrate” of the local municipal court. About this time, Behrens left a law firm in Marysville and began working full-time as editor of the Marysville Journal-Tribune. Behrens was hesitant to accept the position because of his schedule with the newspaper, but Evans convinced him that it was only a part-time position.
“I have heard Dan tell members of the bar association that he planned a law career and intended to practice locally on his own or in one of the area law firms. However, the demands of his family newspaper business prevented him from following that course,” Parrott said. “Instead he became active in helping to run and publish the Marysville Journal-Tribune starting in 1969. He served as managing editor, editor, publisher, president and chairman of the board.”
Behrens explained that the magistrate is a hired employee, which is why he never wore a robe behind the bench.
“The judge hires the person to be magistrate,” he said.
He added that he “always felt that the robe denotes you as an elected judicial officer,” which he is not.
Attorneys must give up their private practice in the municipal court to serve as magistrate there. Behrens said other candidates for the position had established civil and criminal practices they did not want to close.
“(Evans) said ‘You’re my last hope,’” Behrens said with a laugh.
He officially began as magistrate in January 1972.
Throughout his career as magistrate, Behrens served under five judges — Evans, Richard Parrott, Kevin Pelanda, Michael Grigsby and Robert Parrott, Richard Parrott’s son. He was sworn in every time an interim judge was appointed or a judge was elected.
“You serve at the pleasure of the judge,” Behrens explained. “Every time a new judge was elected, I would call them or talk to them and hand them my resignation if they wanted it so they could name somebody else if they wanted to do that. And they all said no.”
Behrens administered the law for small claims under former judges Evans and Richard Parrott. When Judge Pelanda was elected, Behrens began hearing eviction cases as well.
Behrens explained that magistrates only give recommendations, they do not make final decisions. However, the majority of his recommendations were accepted by the judge. He remembers that former Judge Grigsby reversed his judgment a few times.
“Dan was always known as being a caring judge. He disliked removing families from the home they rented when they had hard times and could not pay rent,” Robert Parrott said. “Every attorney knew that he would not sign an entry to evict a family during Christmas time. His knowledge of the law in the area of small claims and evictions is second to none in the Union County Bar Association. He is held in high respect by his fellow bar members.”
Behrens said he was referred to as the “equity magistrate” because he “always tried to be fair.”
Robert Parrott agreed, saying, “He is known for being fair, just and honest.”
Behrens’ time behind the bench over the past five decades has been marked by some unforgettable circumstances.
“As referee, Dan heard a wide variety of cases and claims,” Robert Parrott said. “He could probably write a book on some of the unusual cases he heard over the years.”
During one small claims hearing, a defendant who was using an oxygen tank died in the courtroom above the fire department. The original court was located at the corner of East Sixth and South Main streets. Paramedics from the fire department below tried to resuscitate him to no avail. The magistrate recalled that the plaintiff was concerned about obtaining the money he was allegedly owed.
“I said, ‘You know what, you’re going to have to file a claim to his estate if there is an estate. That’s the only other way you can do it because I’m done. I can’t find a judgment against a dead person,’” Behrens remembered telling the plaintiff.
He also recalled hearing a small claims case over $4 allegedly owed to a plaintiff.
Behrens said he often encouraged plaintiffs and defendants to try to work it out themselves in small claims cases about money or damage claims in eviction cases.
“I would say, ‘Now, look, you’re going to ask me to make a decision, and you both can’t win. One of the two of you isn’t going to like my decision, and you don’t know what that is right now. You may think you know, but you don’t. Believe me,’” he said.
He added that “a fair amount of times they settled it.”
In addition, Behrens laughed as he shared a story about the ceiling caving in during a hearing with a packed courtroom at the municipal court located where the Memorial Health Pavilion and Partners Park are now.
On several occasions, the magistrate summoned police officers from a panic button to stop altercations in the courtroom.
“One time, the defendant was charging me, the bench,” he said. “He was walking toward the bench, and they grabbed a hold of him.”
Behrens also commended the employees in the clerk’s office.
“They’re just good quality people,” he said, adding that they are “knowledgeable” and “easy to work with.”
He supposes he will miss going to court every week, but he hopes to enjoy his retirement by spending more time in Florida.
Behrens has been involved in the Union County Bar Association as well as the Ohio Association of Magistrates and the Ohio State Bar Association.
“It may not have been the legal career Dan planned, but his service as a judge has been invaluable and distinguished,” Robert Parrott said. “He is known throughout the state for his long and remarkable service as a magistrate and jurist.”
Rebecca R. Pokorski, a current member of the Union County Board of Elections, will replace Behrens in the new year. Pokorski practices criminal defense in Columbus with experience in the Franklin County Public Defenders Common Pleas unit. She was appointed by Judge Parrott to fill the position.