Judge Hopes To Create Code Violation Database

Cases of code violations in rental housing often go to Environmental Court, but officials say getting the past history on a landlord or a tenant makes prosecution more difficult. Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Dan Hawkins plans to launch a new website for the public to look up other problem houses in their neighborhoods and the structures with case pending in his court. Hawkins says the court's computers are not integrated with those in the Columbus Division of Code Enforcement, so he would like to sit down with officials to determine what they can do to share code violation information. An announcement is expected on Friday.