Sharon Kennedy | |
---|---|
Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court | |
Assumed office January 1, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Maureen O'Connor |
Associate Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court | |
In office December 7,2012 –December 31,2022 | |
Preceded by | Yvette McGee Brown |
Succeeded by | Joe Deters |
Personal details | |
Born | Hamilton County,Ohio,U.S. | March 15,1962
Political party | Republican |
Education | University of Cincinnati (BA,JD) |
Sharon Lee Kennedy [1] (born March 15,1962) [2] is an American jurist who has served as chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court since 2023. She was first elected to the court as an associate justice in 2012 after serving as a judge of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas from 1999 to 2012.
Sharon Lee Kennedy was born March 15,1962 [2] in Hamilton County,Ohio. [3] She graduated from Northwest High School in 1980, [2] and from the University of Cincinnati School of Social Work with a bachelor's degree in 1984 and she received a Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1991. [3]
Kennedy was a police officer with the Hamilton,Ohio Police Department from 1985 to 1989. [4] She was then a law clerk for Judge Matthew J. Crehan and director of the victim/witness division for the Butler County Court of Common Pleas from 1989 to 1991. [4]
After graduating from law school,Kennedy was in private practice,1991 to 1998;during the same time period she served as disciplinary counsel for the Fraternal Order of Police,Lodge 38,representing police officers during disciplinary hearings. From 1995 to 1998,she was special counsel for then-Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery. From 1995 to 1998,she was the magistrate and warrant officer for the Butler County Area Courts. From 1996 to 1997,she was a warrant and compliance officer of the Butler County Juvenile Court. [4]
From 1999 to 2012,Kennedy was judge of the Court of Common Pleas,Domestic Relations Division,for Butler County. She also served concurrently as administrative judge from 2005 to 2012. [2] [4]
Kennedy entered the March 6,2012 Republican Party primary election for the unexpired term ending December 31,2014,on the Supreme Court of Ohio. She ran unopposed,and received 753,072 votes. [5] On November 6,2012,she defeated incumbent Democratic candidate Yvette McGee Brown,who had been appointed to the seat on January 1,2011,by Governor Ted Strickland. She was sworn in December 7,2012,after the election was certified. [6]
Kennedy's ethics were questioned in 2022 after she spoke to a Republican organization and called the issue of redistricting "the fight of our life," and made accusations about progressive groups and individuals,including those who are parties to cases pending before the court. [7]
Kennedy,who was re-elected in 2020,ran to replace Maureen O'Connor as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Her opponent was fellow associate justice,Democrat Jennifer Brunner. Kennedy went on to win the race. [8]
Kennedy is single. [2] [3] She lives in Liberty Township,Butler County,Ohio. [3] She has been a member of the Butler County Bar Association since 1991 and a member of the Federalist Society since 2012. [2] [4] [9]
The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio,with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members,a chief justice and six associate justices,who are elected at large by the voters of Ohio for six-year terms. The court has a total of 1,550 other employees. Since 2004,the court has met in the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center on the east bank of the Scioto River in Downtown Columbus. Prior to 2004,the court met in the James A. Rhodes State Office Tower and earlier in the Judiciary Annex of the Ohio Statehouse.
Maureen O'Connor is an American lawyer and judge who served as the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 2011 to 2022. She was elected to the court in 2002,becoming chief justice in 2010. She was the first woman to lead the Ohio Supreme Court and the longest serving woman elected statewide in Ohio's History.
Richard Patrick DeWine is an American jurist who has served as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court since 2017. He served as a justice of the 1st district of the Ohio District Courts of Appeals from 2013 to 2017 and as a politician in Hamilton County,Ohio. He is the son of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.
Jennifer Lee Brunner is an American attorney,politician,and judge. She is currently an associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court,a position to which she was elected after serving as a judge on the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals. A member of the Democratic Party,Brunner also served one term as Ohio Secretary of State from 2007 to 2011 and unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Prior to being elected Secretary of State,Brunner worked in the Ohio Secretary of State's Office and served as a County Judge in Franklin County,Ohio.
Judith Lanzinger is an American jurist. She retired as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. On the Ohio judiciary for 31 years,she was the only Ohio Supreme Court justice to have been elected to all four levels of Ohio's judiciary system. She was elected to the Supreme Court of Ohio in 2004,becoming the 150th justice in the court.
Timothy J. Grendell is a Republican judge on the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas. He was a member of the Ohio Senate from 2005 to 2011,and of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2000 until 2004. Timothy Grendell was appointed to the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas as the Juvenile and Probate judge in 2011 by then Governor John Kasich after leaving Columbus,OH. After seeking election again,running unopposed in 2020,he is currently Geauga County's elected judge.
Robin Jean Davis is an American jurist who served on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. First elected to fill an unexpired term in 1996,Davis later won full twelve-year terms in 2000 and 2012. However,Davis retired before the end of her second full term in August 2018 after the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee named Davis in articles of impeachment during the Impeachment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Pennsylvania held statewide municipal elections on November 3,2009,to fill a number of judicial positions and to allow judicial retention votes. The necessary primary elections were held on May 19,2009.
Yvette McGee Brown became the first African-American female justice on the Ohio Supreme Court when she took office on January 1,2011. She was the founding president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children's Hospital,and was a judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for nine years.
The Ohio general elections,2010 were held on November 2,2010,throughout Ohio. Primary elections took place on May 4,2010.
Edward Crawford Turner was a Republican lawyer in the U.S. state of Ohio who served two non consecutive terms of two years as Ohio Attorney General,and was later a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court 1940 until his death.
Judith L. “Judi”French is an American jurist. She was appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court by Governor John Kasich,to replace Evelyn Lundberg Stratton,who resigned. A graduate of The Ohio State University,she previously served as a judge of the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals. She lost re-election in 2020 to Democratic appeals court judge Jennifer Brunner.
The Ohio general elections,2014 were held on November 4,2014,throughout Ohio,with polls opened between 6:30AM and 7:30PM. The close of registration for electors in the primary election was April 7,2014,and the primary election day took place on May 6,2014.
Leonard J. Stern was a Republican lawyer from Ohio who served as a Common Pleas judge,an appeals court judge and from 1970 to 1977 was a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.
The Ohio general elections,2016 were held on November 8,2016,throughout Ohio. The close of registration for electors in the primary election was December 16,2015,and the primary election took place on March 15,2016.
The 2020 Ohio general elections were held on November 3,2020 throughout the US state of Ohio. The office of the Ohio Secretary of State oversees the election process,including voting and vote counting.
The 2022 Ohio general elections took place on November 8,2022,throughout the US state of Ohio.
Daniel Gaul is an American judge for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Gaul was first elected to the court in 1991.
The 2024 Ohio general elections were held on November 5,2024,throughout the US state of Ohio.
Megan E. Shanahan is an American lawyer who has served as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court since 2025. She served as a judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas from 2015 to 2024.