State Rep. Todd McKenney of New Franklin confirmed Wednesday he has been appointed by the governor as the new judge in Summit County Probate Court.
Rob Nichols, spokesman for Gov. John Kasich, said the governor will make an official announcement of McKenney’s appointment today in Columbus.
He was chosen from a list of three candidates submitted to the governor in early September. The other candidates nominated by the Summit County Republican Party screening committee were Akron attorneys Candace Kim Knox and Scot A. Stevenson.
McKenney, 48, who was in his first term in the Ohio House, representing parts of Summit and Portage counties, said in a Beacon Journal telephone interview that he resigned his seat Wednesday afternoon in a letter to House Speaker Bill Batchelder, R-Medina.
McKenney said he plans to meet with retired Summit Probate Judge Bill Spicer at the county courthouse Thursday afternoon to begin the transition process. Friday will be his first day on the job, he said.
Spicer announced his retirement in July after 31 years on the bench.
“I’m grateful,” McKenney said of his probate appointment. “I’m looking forward to serving in the probate court.
“It’s a court I’m familiar with from my law practice. I think I’ve practiced in just about every area of the court, from estates to guardianships to adoptions to marriage licenses.
“It’s a great place, in the sense of helping people and responding to peoples’ needs,” McKenney said.
McKenney is a 1986 graduate of Hiram College. He obtained his law degree from the Ohio State University College of Law in 1989, then spent four years as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge David D. Dowd Jr.
He subsequently became an ordained pastor at The Chapel, one of the largest non-denominational churches in Northeast Ohio, and spent 14 years there.
McKenney said his time working as a law clerk in federal court, along with his many years at The Chapel, was “strong training” to be a judge.
“In many ways,” he said, “actually practicing in the probate court is one of the keys to understanding the issues, and my experience as a pastor at The Chapel gives me a great understanding of the emotions and the dynamics that go behind [being a judge].”
Working with people who have lost loved ones and have many of the same types of issues arising in probate matters, McKenney said, makes him “fully prepared” to become probate judge.
McKenney, who is still a licensed ordained minister by the church, said he resigned his position as a pastor in 2007 when he unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Barberton Municipal Court bench.
He said he still volunteers at The Chapel, attends services there and serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations.
Nichols, spokesman for Kasich, said McKenney will have to run for election to the Summit probate bench in the 2012 general election and again in November 2014 for a full, six-year term.
McKenney has been married for 13 years and lives in New Franklin with his wife, Bethany, and their two children.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.