Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendation Panel is currently accepting applications to fill a vacant seat on the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas, General Division, due to the retirement of Judge Maureen Cronin.
Applicants for the Court of Common Pleas position must be a resident and registered elector of Mahoning 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.
The term of the Mahoning County appointment will extend until January 2, 2009. To continue service in the position, the appointee must run in the November 2008 judicial election.
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.
Requirements for all applicants include submitting a letter of interest, resume, panel questionnaire
available here, 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.
Applications for the Mahoning County appointment must be received by 5 p.m. August 15.
Candidates must be available to interview in person on August 31 in Columbus. Individual candidate times and interview locations will be determined at a later date.
Governor Strickland has selected the following individuals to serve on the regional panel for the current Mahoning County vacancy:
Miriam Ocasio, attorney, solo practitioner.
Joseph Caruso, executive director, Burdman Group, Inc.
Ed Reese, owner, EDM Management
Jaladah Aslam, staff representative, AFSCME Ohio Council 8
Richard White, attorney, White and Briach law firm.
James Burgham, business manager, IBEW Local 64
At-Large Panel Members:
Janet E. Jackson (chair), president and CEO of United Way of Central Ohio
Meg Flack, board member of the Ohio League of Women Voters
Doloris Learmonth, managing partner at Peck Shaffer and Williams LLP in Cincinnati
Joy Malek Oldfield, partner at Hill Hardman Oldfield, LLC, in Akron
Charles “Rocky” Saxbe, former state representative, currently a senior partner in the Columbus law firm of Chester, Wilcox and Saxbe, LLP