Trending
SALEM--The city of Salem has taken the first step to bringing a 2025 lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of its occupancy license rules to a close.
Following an executive session for the discussion of legal matters, city council Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey to enter a mutual release of all claims associated with the federal case of Mark Courtney.
The resolution states that all parties in the suit "have reached an agreement resolving all matter currently pending before the court wherein the city does not admit any liability and does not believe the claims were meritorious." The agreement comes after the city's housing code "was modified to eliminate or adjust provision that may have infringed, or potentially could infringe upon the rights of third parties."
Council elected to pass the resolution with the emergency clause, meaning that it will take effect immediately, eschewing the typical 30-day waiting period.
The case dates back to April of 2025 when Courtney, who owns multiple rental units in Salem, filed a lawsuit in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court challenging the legality of the city's requirement of pre-occupancy inspections of rental units. The case was later removed to federal court at the request of counsel for the city, Gregory Beck of Baker Dublikar of North Canton.
The lawsuit alleged that the inspection requirement was unconstitutional and was “authorizing warrantless searches without probable cause." The complaint sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief “prohibiting Salem from assessing and collecting the unlawful charges at issue and prosecuting those who do not register the rental properties or pay the unlawful charges at issue.”
In October of 2025 U.S. District Court Judge Charles E. Fleming granted the preliminary injunction Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division in Youngstown. The injunction barred the city from enforcing sections which criminalized failure to renew an occupancy license and required an inspection and prohibited the city from enforcing a “$60 penalty fee for late payment of the occupancy fee against plaintiffs and others who refuse consent to warrantless inspection” for the pendency of the case.
In the ruling, Fleming wrote that administrative searches like the inspections required by the city violate the Fourth Amendment when authorized and conducted without a warrant procedure.
Council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Nov. 17.