September 20, 2021
2021 Columbus Bar Association Judiciary Committee Findings
This year, there are seven contested judicial races on the ballot for Franklin County Municipal Court and two uncontested races.
The Columbus Bar Association provides information on Franklin County judicial candidates in a variety of ways, including candidate biographies on our "Judge the Candidates" website, attorney poll results, and the results of the CBA Judicial Screening Committee.
What is the Judicial Screening Committee?
The Columbus Bar Association's Judicial Screening Committee, made up of around 20 members, conducts interviews with judicial candidates in order to get a better idea of their character. This information is compiled into an easily accessible document geared toward helping the public learn more about the candidates. The CBA strives to have a politically balanced Committee in order to reduce the influence of partisanship.
How does the committee reach its findings?
Candidates are independently evaluated by the Columbus Bar Association Judiciary Committee through interviews, review of questionnaire answers and past performance evaluations, if applicable. The Committee changed its ranking system beginning this year; all candidates were rated on a scale of 1 – 5 stars, with 5 stars being the highest ranking. To receive a ranking of 1 star, more than 70 percent of the votes had to be cast in that category. In all other cases, the candidate was designated 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars, whichever of those designations had a majority of the votes.
The CBA does not endorse any judicial candidate; our role is to provide impartial, non-partisan information about the judicial candidates in any given election year. All results from the Judicial Screening Committee are available online for public consumption. This year's results are available to the right.
2021 Judicial Screening Committee Findings
Joshua Brown
Declined to screen
Hon. Cynthia Ebner
4 stars
Mary Kay Fenlon
2 stars
Bill Hedrick
5 stars
Hon. Mark Hummer
5 stars
Will Ireland
4 stars
Hon. Michael J. King
5 stars
Scott Kirschman
4 stars
Magistrate Michael McAllister
5 stars
Mark J. Miller
5 stars
Hon. Stephanie Mingo
5 stars
Laura Nesbitt
3 stars
Hon. James O’Grady
2 stars
Hon. Eileen Paley
5 stars
Hon. Gina Russo
5 stars
Rena Shak
4 stars