The municipal courtroom in Kent was full of holiday revelers yesterday in Judge John J. Plough’s second post-Halloween Sunday court.

Of the 53 defendants in court, only one was charged with a drug felony.

Junior marketing major Christopher Frampton was charged with aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for alleged possession of the prescription drug Adderall and a misdemeanor charge of misconduct during an emergency.

Frampton pleaded not guilty.

Because municipal court doesn’t have jurisdiction of felonies, his bond was set at $2,500 and a hearing is set for Friday at the Portage Count Court of Common Pleas in Ravenna.

Saturday’s festivities resulted in 54 total charges, 34 of which were taken to the station and booked and 20 were given citations, according to the Kent Police Department.

Many of the defendants were from out of town.

Last year, Kent Police gave an estimate of 81 arrests, and there were more than 50 cases in last year’s Sunday court.

A dispatcher at the department, who wished not to be named, said there were 112 total calls from 8 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. yesterday.

Plough said the number of arrests and distribution of charges on Halloween this year were “about average” but was still a “full house.”

“I don’t think it was any higher or lower than normal,” Plough said. “Unfortunately, (there were) three DUIs, which are not just going out and having fun; those have to be treated differently.”

Most of the charges were for open containers, underage drinking and disorderly conduct.

Plough said almost everybody showed up for trial today, and he’s “happy with the way it went.”

“We disposed of a lot of cases today and there weren’t that many ‘not guilty’ pleas,” Plough said. “We had a lot of people with underage drinking go into the Diversion program. They get one chance on the underage drinking. I didn’t write the law, but that’s the way it is.”

“If they come back they have to go to jail for three days, and hopefully they get the message,” he added.

Plough said the day went smoothly.

“Everyone was real courteous today. The kids were all congenial,” Plough said, ” … Even though they had to come to court on Sunday and miss the Browns game or whatever else they wanted to do on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. But it does help them because it doesn’t make them miss classes, and it helps us because it doesn’t clog up the court during the week when I have other scheduled cases I have to handle.

“I try to send a message to the kids in town here that if you do commit a crime Saturday night you are going to be taken care of immediately,” Plough said, “so it is not going to be like post a bond, skip out and not show back up in court.”

Contact public affairs reporter Tim Jacobs at [email protected].