126 Magistrates from accross the state attended the recently concluded three day OAM Spring Conference held at the beautiful Cherry Valley Lodge and Water Resort in Newark, Ohio. This was the largest Spring Conference attendence in 5 years. Special appreciation goes to Conference Co-Chairs Matt Reed and Erica Gordon.

Magistrate Kathleen E. Graham of the Franklin County Municipal Court has been named by Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor to the important 28 member Task Force on the Funding of Ohio Courts. The Chief Justice stated that "In general, the task force will examine the current structure and the funding of the Judicial Branch." Specifically,the task force will be charged with indentifying the method and manner by which OHio courts are funded; determining the long-term efficacy of the current funding model; and reviewing possible alternatives that might provide sustained and consistent funding for Ohio Courts." The panel will meet throughout 2012 and issue a report by early next year with specific recommendations for further cost savings and efficiencies. The task force is chaired by Judge Christopher Boyko of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Magistrate Graham is one of the founding members of the OAM who served both as Treasurer and President. She also served two terms as the OAM Representative to the Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure and was the 2009 winner of the OAM Education Award. We are also pleased to note that another member of the task force is Ohio Court of Claims Clerk of Court Mark Reed, who served as a Magistrate prior to joining the Court of Claims.

The OAM is proud to report that Magistrate Jay Wills, an OAM Board Member and Magistrate of the Scioto County Domestic Relations Court, has been appointed by Governor John Kasich to serve out the remainder of the unexpired term of his Judge who recently retired. Jay must run in the November 2012 General Election to retain the seat. He will take his oath of office on Friday, February 17th. Jay was a dedicated member of the OAM Board who served both as a 4th District Representative and as Chair of the Practice and Procedure Committee. Jay vows to remain a member of the OAM and has already named Margaret Apel Miller, as his Magistrate. Margaret is currently a member of the OAM serving as a Municipal Court Magistrate. To read the fine article about his taking the bench, click on the following article from the Portsmouth Daily Times: <http://portsmouth-dailytimes.com/bookmark/17553196> . Good luck, Judge!

At the recently concluded OAM Board Meeting, Supreme Court Associate Justice Terrence O'Donnell met with the Board over lunch and shared details of his very successful effort to encourage Lawyer to Lawyer Mentoring in the State of Ohio which has become a model for the nation. The Board committed to encouraging our members to join the effort. To learn more about the Mentoring Program and to sign up to become a Mentor, click on the following link: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/AttySvcs/mentoring/default.asp

With the start of the New year, Magistrate Greg Clifford of the Cleveland Municipal Court took the helm as the new President of the OAM, succeeding Franklin County Municipal Court Magistrate David Jump who completed 2 two-year terms. In a statement published on the Ohio Supreme Court Website, Clifford said he's excited to begin his term as president and "help our fellow magistrates and enhance the courts in which we serve." He added that "Our organization has been working hard over the past several years to assist the judicial branch of this state with our collective wisdom, energy and experience, and to provide meaningful membership benefits to the magistrates across the state of Ohio. During my tenure as President, I hope to maintain and grow all of the professional relationships that we have developed over time with the Supreme Court of Ohio and the various judicial organizations, increase our membership roster of full and part-time magistrates, and develop more value for the benefit of our members and those who visit our website."

Joining Greg as part of the 2012 leadership team are New Executive Committee Members Nancy McMillen of the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court who takes over as First Vice-President; Pam Herringhaus of the Wood County Domestic Relations Court who becomes Second Vice-President; James Lyle of the Franklin County Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court continues as Treasurer; and Ken Roll of the Lake County Common Pleas Court continues as Secretary. Magistrate David Jump will serve as Immediate Past-President.

As I begin my term serving as president of this incredibly outstanding organization, I would first like to honor, show appreciation for and thank God, our creator to whom I serve, my family whom I love, the Cleveland Municipal Court judges for whom I work, the Municipal Court Practice Area magistrates who selected me to serve as their chair and a member of the Board of Trustees, our voting membership who elected me to serve as an At-Large Trustee, and the members of our Board of Trustees who elected me to serve in our highest office. Thank you all! I am very appreciative of the trust that you have placed in me to lead the Ohio Association of Magistrates over the next two years. I am humbled by the enormous responsibility and prestige that is attached to this position and I am excited over the possibilities of what lies ahead for us.  I pledge to honor my duty and responsibilities to enhance the image and effectiveness of this professional organization.

The Ohio Association of Magistrates was established in 1989 to fill the void of established communications among the court referees and magistrates around the state. Through the Ohio Judicial College seminars, we had the opportunity to meet other members of our profession who were similarly employed, but we didn’t have a vehicle to address our mutual concerns and interests. We now have a fully functioning professional organization, recognized by the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio Judicial Conference, which is open to all 819 magistrates in courts of record across the state of Ohio. Our membership roster currently consists of over 500 magistrates in five separate and distinct practice areas from all 88 counties. It is the desire of our Board of Trustees that we continue to expand our membership roster until we can claim all magistrates in the state as members. With the creation of a Membership Committee, chaired by Magistrate Nancy McMillan, it is my goal that we expand our membership base by 10 % per year. We can do that by developing our organization into one whose membership benefits are so appealing that an OAM membership card is a must have for all magistrates in every court across the state.

It is our aim to provide you with all of the tools you need to best serve your courts and the communities within your jurisdiction. Thanks to the dedicated commitment and hard work of Past President Mark Huberman, we have an outstanding website that not only allows everyone to view and learn more about us, but it has great information that is provided only for our members. As you know, we sponsor two intellectually stimulating and socially revitalizing three-day conferences in the spring and fall of each year. Each conference is chocked full of the most pertinent and current continuing legal and judicial education available to fulfill all of your Judicial College, professionalism, ethics and substance abuse requirements. Magistrate Bill Rickrich, our Education Committee chair and a member of the Ohio Judicial College Board of Trustees, works closely with each of our Practice Area Chairs to make sure that we have cutting edge programs and seminars for you. Our conferences also include an opportunity for our members and guests to engage in a volunteer community service project coordinated by Magistrate Ann Weatherhead. We require our host hotels to always allow us to provide an abundantly supplied hospitality suite. This not only allows us to enjoy a wide variety of food and beverages, it also benefits us with excellent opportunities to get to know one another better and to share ideas on how to burn off some of the stress that we deal with on a daily basis. As we move forward, I would like to see us expand our conference agendas to allow more conflict-free time to help us rejuvenate our minds and bodies and enjoy more of the social and cultural amenities that abound in our host cities.

During this past year, we created a new committee to address and serve the needs of our current and soon-to-be retired members. Retired Magistrate Bill Melvin spearheaded a Task Force that identified some of the issues that we could addressed by and for retired magistrates. The Retired Magistrates Committee is full of energy and ideas that I’m sure will help us be a better all around organization. Utilizing the knowledge and experience of long-time magistrates, we can also provide top quality, dedicated mentors for the newest members of our occupation and help them to succeed on their job.

Under the leadership of Immediate Past President David Jump, and his predecessors, we have made outstanding strides to have our members included on many Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio Judicial Conference Commissions, Task Forces, and Committees. Through our committees and those on which we serve, the voices of Ohio’s magistrates are heard on many proposed and pending statutes and rules that effect the courts of Ohio. We have also developed a phenomenal partnership with the Ohio Judicial College who provides us with great resources that enhance our operations and services to our members and saves us a substantial sum of money.

It is my aim to continue on the path that has gotten us to this prominent position that we now hold and my desire to see us grow and attain an even great stature in the future. However, we are a membership organization and I cannot do it alone. I need the continued dedication and support of our Board of Trustees, and we need the commitment, active participation and involvement of our membership. Working together all of our dreams for this noble association can be attained. I hope we can count on you to pitch in and help us reach new milestones.