Ohio Judicial Reforms

"While Ohioans elect their judges, one of three jurists in Richland, Crawford and Marion counties were initially given their robes by a governor," Bucyrus TelegraphForum.com said Monday morning. "Statewide, about one-third of those on the bench today got their start through a gubernatorial appointment, according to Ohio's Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, who is considering a number of reforms designed to keep politics off the bench .

O'Connor is the second Ohio chief justice to call for judicial reform over the years. Thomas Moyer, who died last year, advocated an appointment retention election system, where judges are initially appointed but face the voters to stay in office. In 2006, House Representative Bill Seitz and State Senator Tim Grendell had companion bills (Here and Here) in the Ohio Legislature that would have "increased the terms of office for judges… changed the qualifications for all judges, and required the Supreme Court to establish a qualification program for candidates for judicial office." Justice Moyer had testified before the Ohio House Judiciary Committee in supporting the judicial reform measures proposed in House Bill 266, though neither bill did well at all. ( Additional information Here and Here)