Ohio Second District Court of Appeals

From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 8 min

---

The Ohio Second District Court of Appeals is one of 12 appellate districts in the state of Ohio. It presides over Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami and Montgomery counties in Ohio. ^[1]

Published opinions of the Ohio Second District Court of Appeals can be found here.

Judges[edit]

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Jeffrey M. Welbaum	2013 - Present	Elected
Michael L. Tucker	February 11, 2017 - Present	Elected
Mary Donovan	February 9, 2005 - Present	Elected
Michael T. Hall	February 10, 2011 - Present	Elected
Chris Epley	February 9, 2021 - Present	Elected

 

Ohio Second District Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	5
Salary:	[2]
Judicial selection
Method:	Nonpartisan election of judges
Term:	6 years

Judicial selection[edit]

See also: Nonpartisan election of judges and Judicial selection in Ohio

Judges in Ohio serve six-year terms. They are elected in nonpartisan elections and must face re-election if they wish to continue serving. Elections take place in even-numbered years. In case of a vacancy, the governor appoints a judge. To continue serving, interim judges must run in the first general election taking place at least 40 days after the position became vacant. However, if a departing judge's term ends within one year of the next general election, the interim judge instead serves the remainder of the term.^[3][4]

Qualifications[edit]

To serve on the Ohio District Courts of Appeals, a judge must:

• be a resident of his or her district;
• be attorneys with at least six years of experience in the practice of law;
• be under the age of 70.^[5][4]

Salary[edit]

The salary of intermediate appellate court judges in Ohio was $152,850 as of 2018.^[6]

Elections[edit]

2020[edit]

See also: Ohio intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

Judges with expiring terms[edit]

This is a list of the justices who had to stand for nonpartisan election in 2020 in order to remain on the bench. Justices could choose not to stand for election.

■ Jeffrey Froelich

2018[edit]

See also: Ohio intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Welbaum's Seat[edit]

■ Jeffrey M. Welbaum (Incumbent, unopposed)

2016[edit]

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2016

Candidates[edit]

Judge Donovan's seat[edit]

■ Mary Donovan (R) (Incumbent/Unopposed)

Judge Hall's seat[edit]

■ Michael T. Hall (R) (Incumbent/Unopposed)

Judge Fain's seat[edit]

• Judge Mike Fain (D) reached the mandatory retirement age.

■ Michael L. Tucker (R) (Unopposed)

Election results[edit]

November 8 general election[edit]

Ohio Second District Court of Appeals, Donovan's Seat, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mary Donovan Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	301,466
Total Votes (100% reporting)				301,466
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

Ohio Second District Court of Appeals, Hall's Seat, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Michael T. Hall Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	289,768
Total Votes (100% reporting)				289,768
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

Ohio Second District Court of Appeals, Fain's Seat, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Michael L. Tucker  (unopposed)	100.00%	288,800
Total Votes (100% reporting)				288,800
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

March 15 primary election[edit]

Ohio Second District Court of Appeals, Judge Donovan's Seat Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mary Donovan Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	127,052
Total Votes				127,052
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

Ohio Second District Court of Appeals, Judge Hall's Seat Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Michael T. Hall Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	124,311
Total Votes				124,311
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

Ohio Second District Court of Appeals, Judge Fain's Seat Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Michael L. Tucker  (unopposed)	100.00%	122,084
Total Votes				122,084
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

2014[edit]

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2014

Term commencing 2/9/2015

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
FroelichJeffrey FroelichA	Yes	Democratic	100%A	52.2%   A
VaughnRobert Vaughn	No	Republican	100%A	47.8%   D

2012[edit]

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Term	Primary Vote	Election Vote
IngramCarley Ingram	No	Democratic	Term commencing 2/9/2013	60.2%A	46.06%   A
HeckmanDarrell Heckman	No	Democratic	Term commencing 2/9/2013	39.7%
WelbaumJeffrey M. Welbaum   A	No	Republican	Term commencing 2/9/2013	97.1%A	53.94%   A

2010[edit]

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2010

Court	Candidates	Details	Results
Second District, Term Commencing February 9	(R): Mary Donovan	Mary Donovan was up for re-election.	Mary Donovan[7]
Second District, Term Commencing February 10	(R): Michael T. Hall and George B. Reynolds		Michael T. Hall[7]
Second District, Term Commencing February 11	(D): Mike Fain	Mike Fain was up for re-election.	Mike Fain[7]

Ethics[edit]

The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Ohio. It consists of four overarching canons:

• Canon 1: A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
• Canon 2: A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently.
• Canon 3: A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities so as to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office.
• Canon 4: A judge or judicial candidate shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary.^[8]

The full text of the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges[edit]

Judges in Ohio may be removed in one of three ways:

• Retirement, removal or suspension by a special Supreme Court commission. Complainants can file with either the Ohio Office of Disciplinary Counsel or a certified grievance committee of the Ohio Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline (both of which may then file a formal complaint with the Board of Commissioners.) If two-thirds of the Board of Commissioners members find the complaint credible, the Supreme Court appoints a commission of five judges to determine whether discipline is warranted. The commission's decision is subject to appeal to the Supreme Court.
• Removal by a concurrent resolution of two-thirds of the members of both houses of the Ohio General Assembly.
• Conviction by a two-thirds vote of the Ohio Senate, upon impeachment by a majority vote of the Ohio House of Representatives.^[9]

Noteworthy cases[edit]

• Not using a turn signal leads to valid search and seizure in a residence in Ohio (2013)      Judge(s):Jeffrey Froelich (Ohio v. Lam, C.A. No. 25336)	Click for summary→
On February 15, the Second District Court of Appeals ruled that the warrantless entry by police officers into the home of a driver who failed to signal a turn was valid. The police used a battering ram to enter the home of Jeffrey Lam, a person well known to the officers, after he failed to use a turn signal while driving. This is a minor misdemeanor under Ohio law. The officers pursued Lam to his home, where he entered the residence and locked the door. Lam refused to allow the police entry; as a result, the police used force to enter the home. The officers then cited police safety as a reason to conduct a search, during which they discovered drugs. Lam was subsequently arrested and convicted based on the evidence seized during that search. His motion to suppress the evidence was denied by the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas during his trial. Writing for the majority, Judge Jeffrey Froelich indicated the judges were unhappy with their ultimate decision: “ "Although we are bound by supreme court precedent, we have reservations about permitting police officers to chase a suspect who is known to have committed only a minor traffic violation and to forcibly enter into his house, in the absence of exigent circumstances. This may be the unusual situation where legal reasoning has plunged off the slippery slope or where the exceptions have swallowed the rule."[10][11][12] ” Lam will likely appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, as the opinion here "called on the state Supreme Court to overturn the precedent" established by Middletown v. Flinchum.[10] Decided in 2002, Flinchum extended the hot pursuit doctrine to misdemeanors. Traditionally, the hot pursuit doctrine allowed for the warrantless entry of the home of a suspect police are actively pursuing on suspicion of a felony.

State profile[edit]

Demographic data for Ohio
	Ohio	U.S.
Total population:	11,605,090	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	40,861	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	82.4%	73.6%
Black/African American:	12.2%	12.6%
Asian:	1.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	3.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.1%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	26.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,429	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.6%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Ohio. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern[edit]

See also: Presidential voting trends in Ohio

Ohio voted Republican in three out of the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, nine are located in Ohio, accounting for 4.37 percent of the total pivot counties.^[13]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Ohio had eight Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 4.42 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Ohio coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Ohio
• United States congressional delegations from Ohio
• Public policy in Ohio
• Influencers in Ohio
• Ohio fact checks
• More...

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Ohio Second District Court Appeals. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also[edit]

Ohio	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Ohio Ohio District Courts of Appeals Ohio Supreme Court	Elections: 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 Gubernatorial Appointments Judicial Selection in Ohio	Federal Courts Other State Courts Local Courts

External links[edit]

• Ohio Second District Court of Appeals

Footnotes[edit]

File:Flag of Ohio.svg v • e Ohio District Courts of Appeals Judicial selection in Ohio • 2022 elections • 2020 elections • Ohio Supreme Court
First District	Beth A. Myers  •  Robert C. Winkler  •  Marilyn Zayas  •  Ginger Bock  •
Second District	Mary Donovan  •  Jeffrey M. Welbaum  •  Michael T. Hall  •  Michael L. Tucker  •  Chris Epley  •
Third District	Stephen R. Shaw  •  John Willamowski  •  William R. Zimmerman  •  Mark Miller (Ohio court of appeals)  •
Fourth District	Peter Abele  •  Marie Hoover  •  Mike Hess  •  Kristy Wilkin  •
Fifth District	Scott Gwin  •  William Hoffman  •  John Wise  •  Patricia Delaney  •  Craig Baldwin  •  Earle E. Wise, Jr.  •
Sixth District	Mark Pietrykowski  •  Thomas Osowik  •  Gene Zmuda  •  Myron Duhart  •  Christine Mayle  •
Seventh District	Gene Donofrio  •  Cheryl Waite  •  Carol Ann Robb  •
Eighth District	Frank Celebrezze  •  Mary Boyle  •  Sean Gallagher  •  Mary Kilbane  •  Emanuella Groves  •  Kathleen Ann Keough  •  Anita Laster Mays  •  Eileen T. Gallagher  •  Timothy McCormack (Ohio)  •  Eileen A. Gallagher  •  Lisa Forbes  •
Ninth District	Donna Carr  •  Lynne S. Callahan  •  Thomas A. Teodosio  •  Betty Sutton  •  Jennifer Lee Hensal  •
Tenth District	Lisa Sadler  •  Susan Brown  •  William Klatt  •  Julia L. Dorrian  •  Terri Jamison  •  Betsy Luper Schuster  •  Michael Mentel  •
Eleventh District	Mary Jane Trapp  •  Cynthia Rice  •  Thomas R. Wright  •  John Eklund  •  Matt Lynch  •
Twelfth District	Stephen Powell  •  Robert Hendrickson  •  Michael E. Powell (Ohio)  •  Robin N. Piper  •  Matthew Byrne  •