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Shoshanna Brooker (I) and Randall Jedlink (R), two area magistrates, are on the ballot this general election for the position of Municipal Court Judge of Washington County.
Jedlink, who did not respond to requests for an interview in time for publication, has been serving as the county's juvenile and probate magistrate for the past six years, according to the Washington County government website. It said Judge Timothy A. Williams appointed Jedlink to serve as a full-time magistrate on Jan. 3, 2017. The website says Jedlink is a 2010 graduate of University of Toledo College of Law and a 2007 graduate of Purdue University with a BA in Political Science.
Brooker has been the magistrate for the Common Pleas Court for the past 11 years.
"The past four years, I've also been part-time acting judge for the court I'm running for," Brooker said. "But that's just part-time for when the judge needs to be away."
Brooker is a 1994 graduate of Warren High School and received an Associate of Arts degree from Washington State Community College in 1995. She then went to Ohio University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication degree in 1997. After that, she went to Capital Law School where she graduated with a Juris Doctor degree.
Brooker said in a comparison situation with her opponent she has almost double the years of experience.
"I think that's important," Brooker said. "It's not an easy job."
Brooker said the job of the judge doesn't start and end on the bench. She said facilities management and maintenance, the over $1 million budget, court employees and more are the judge's responsibility.
"It's a big job that requires someone with a lot of varied experience to be able to take it on," Brooker said. "And I believe I am that person."
Brooker said current judge Janet Dyer Welch has done a fabulous job and one of the things she likes that Welch did was set up the mental health court.
"This is what we call a specialized docket," Brooker said.
She said she received special training on these dockets from the Ohio Supreme Court and said that is the direction the courts are moving.
"So, one of the things I'm excited to do once I get in there is to get the mental health court recertified," Brooker said. "It's such a great program that I'm really excited to keep going."
Brooker said her father was a veteran of two foreign wars, the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm, and that she would like to implement a veteran's liaison to the court.
"Someone who's specifically responsible for keeping up to brass as to what services we can provide veterans, and their families, if they are coming through the court system," Brooker said.
Brooker said she would also like to start electronic filing (E-files) in the courts. She said right now only the Ohio State Highway Patrol has the ability to do that.
"I'd like to see that expanded for everyone, particularly because it increases efficiency at the courts, it decreases errors, decreases time people have to spend on a case," Brooker said. "I think it could be very, very helpful in these times when we're trying to do more with less."
Brooker said she would also like to build a better restitution program.
"Nationwide, that's a very low rate of return," Brooker said. "And we know that 60% of all restitution is made three years after sentencing."
She said there are some promising programs across the U.S. that could be incorporated here. She said she would like to make everything data driven.
"I'd like to immediately start to collect certain types of data, which will help us better create programming," Brooker said. "And it will also help with having the information we need when funding becomes available. So, I'd like start collecting that data.
Early voting has already begun in Washington County and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 7.