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The Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendation Panel is currently accepting applications to fill a vacant seat on the Highland County Court of Common Pleas, General Division.
Applicants for the Court of Common Pleas position must be a resident and registered elector of Highland County and not yet 70 years old on the day they begin their duties, as dictated by Ohio law. In addition, they must be admitted to practice law in Ohio and have maintained their legal license for six years prior to assuming the judicial post or served as a judge of a court of record in any jurisdiction in the United States.
To continue service in the position, the appointee must run in the November 2008 judicial election.
Applications for the Highland County appointment must be received by 5 p.m. on July 31.
Candidates must be available to interview in person on Aug. 28 in Columbus. Individual candidate times and interview locations will be determined at a later date.
In the case of all judicial vacancies, applicants must follow the guidelines set forth by the Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendation Panel to ensure their eligibility for appointment.
Applications must be submitted directly to the judicial panel and will then be distributed to the at-large and regional panel members. Details and the full text of the application procedure are available on the judicial panel’s section of the governor’s Web site, http://www.governor.ohio.gov/.
Requirements for all applicants include submitting a letter of interest, resume, panel questionnaire at http://governor.ohio.gov/Portals/0/OJARP/OJARP%20QUESTIONNAIRE.pdf, and no more than six letters of recommendation.
Additional details about OJARP and the application process can be found at http://ojarp.org/.
All materials submitted by applicants for a judicial vacancy will be considered public record under Ohio law. Applicant communication with panel members must be directed to the entire panel; all attempts to contact or influence a panel member are prohibited. Applicant questions and concerns should be addressed to Kent Markus or Jeff Ruppert in the Governor’s Office at 614.466.3555.
Governor Strickland has selected the following individuals to serve on the regional panel for the current Highland County vacancy:
Nicholas Thompson, police chief, City of Hillsboro
David Pence, attorney
James Phillips, retired member of the Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Robert Hottle, business owner, Blossom ’N Buds Florists
Robert Captain, retired from the Ohio Department of Transportation
J.D. Wagoner, attorney and president of the Highland County Bar Association.
At-large panel members:
James Ray (panel chair), retired judge, Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division
Janica Pierce, attorney, Chester Willcox and Saxbe, LLP
John Kulewicz, attorney, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP
Betty Davis, president, Community Concepts, Inc.
Isabel Framer, court certified Spanish/English interpreter; chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Judicial Interpreters and Translators