CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Four Hamilton County probation substations are closing despite a community backlash and an increased emphasis on public safety and supervision of violent felons in Cincinnati.

The number of probation officers will be slashed in half to just six and work out of a building in downtown Cincinnati instead of the substations that began opening in 2001 in Over-the-Rhine, Avondale, West Price Hill and Madisonville.

However, the Democrat Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judges who attended a closed-door meeting Thursday approved the controversial move in a party-line vote, sources tell FOX19 NOW.

None of the judges who walked out afterward wanted to talk.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Court oversees the Hamilton County Adult Probation Department and appoints its leadership

See Full Page