Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals

The Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals is one of 12 intermediate appellate court districts in Ohio. It presides over Ashland, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Guernsey, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Perry, Richland, Stark and Tuscarawas counties in Ohio.^[1]

Published opinions of the Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals can be found here.

 

Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	6
Salary:	Associates: $175,045[2]
Judicial selection
Method:	Partisan election of judges
Term:	6 years

Judges

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
William Hoffman	February 1, 1991 - Present	Elected
Craig Baldwin	April 27, 2013 - Present	John Kasich
Andrew King	February 9, 2023 - Present	Elected
Kevin Popham	February 10, 2025 - Present
Robert G. Montgomery	February 9, 2025 - Present
David Gormley	February 11, 2025 - Present

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Ohio

The judges of the Ohio District Courts of Appeal are selected through partisan primaries and partisan general elections. Previously, these judges were selected through partisan primaries and nonpartisan general elections, known as the Michigan method.^[3][4] The number of judges on the court of appeals varies by district over time, based on district size and caseload. Each district has between four and 12 judges.^[5]

All judges serve six-year terms, after which they are required to run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court. District courts of appeal candidates are chosen in their respective appellate districts.^[6]

Qualifications

To serve on the Ohio District Courts of Appeals, a judge must:

• have at least six years in the practice of law;
• be licensed to practice law in the state for at least one year preceding appointment or commencement of the judge's term;
• a judge of a court of record in any jurisdiction in the U.S.; and
• be under the age of 70.^[7]

Presiding judge

The manner in which the presiding judge is chosen for each appellate district varies among the districts.^[8]

Vacancies

In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement. The appointee serves until the next general election taking place 40 or more days after the vacancy occurred. If re-elected, the judge serves the remainder of his or her predecessor's unexpired term.^[6]

In 2007, Governor Ted Strickland (D) issued an executive order creating a judicial appointment recommendation panel to assist in making new appointments. The panel evaluates applicants and advises the governor, but the governor is not bound to the panel's recommendations.^[6] A similar system was established in 1972 under Governor Jack Gilligan (D), but it was abolished by Governor James A. Rhodes (R) three years later.^[9]

Salary

In 2024, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $175,045, according to the National Center for State Courts.^[10]

Elections

2024

See also: Ohio intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

The terms of 24 Ohio intermediate appellate court judges expired in 2025. The 24 seats were up for partisan election on November 5, 2024. The primary was March 19, 2024. The filing deadline was December 20, 2023.

Candidates and results

First District

General election

Primary

Second District

General election

Primary

Third District

General election

Primary

Fourth District

General election

Primary

Fifth District

General election

Primary

Sixth District

General election

Primary

Seventh District

General election

Primary

Eighth District

General election

Primary

Ninth District

General election

Primary

Tenth District

General election

Primary

Eleventh District

General election

Primary

Twelfth District

General election

Primary

Judges not on the ballot

• Pierre Bergeron (1st District)
• Robert C. Winkler (1st District)
• Jeffrey M. Welbaum (2nd District)
• Scott Gwin (5th District)
• John Wise (5th District)
• David A. D'Apolito (7th District)
• Frank Celebrezze (8th District)
• Betsy Luper Schuster (10th District)
• Mary Jane Trapp (11th District)
• Stephen Powell (12th District)

2022

See also: Ohio intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

The terms of 28 Ohio intermediate appellate court judges expired in 2022 and 2023.^[11] The 28 seats were up for partisan election on November 8, 2022. A primary was scheduled for May 3, 2022.

Judges with expiring terms

Candidates and results

First District Court of Appeals

Myers vacancy

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Second District Court of Appeals

Donovan vacancy

General election

Republican primary election

Hall vacancy

General election

Republican primary election

Tucker's seat

General election

Republican primary election

Third District Court of Appeals

Shaw vacancy

General election

Republican primary election

Zimmerman's seat

General election

Republican primary election

Fourth District Court of Appeals

Wilkin's seat

General election

Republican primary election

Fifth District Court of Appeals

Wise's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Baldwin's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Sixth District Court of Appeals

Pietrykowski vacancy

General election

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mark Pietrykowski (D)

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Mayle's seat

General election

Republican primary election

Seventh District Court of Appeals

Donofrio's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Eighth District Court of Appeals

Kilbane's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Forbes' seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Keough's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Gallagher's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

O'Sullivan's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Ninth District Court of Appeals

Callahan vacancy

General election

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Lynne S. Callahan (R)

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Note: After incumbent Judge Lynne Callahan decided to retire after the May 3 primary, the Republican Party nominated Jill Flagg Lanzinger to run as the Republican candidate in the general election. Flagg Lanzinger withdrew from an election to another seat on the court in order to replace Callahan.^[12]

Carr's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Teodosio's seat

General election

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jill Flagg Lanzinger (R)

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Note: The Republican Party nominated Scot Stevenson to run as the Republican candidate in the general election after Jill Flagg Lanzinger, who won the Republican primary, withdrew from the race in order to run for another seat on the court.^[13]

Tenth District Court of Appeals

Sadler vacancy

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Dorrian's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

McGrath's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Klatt vacancy

General election

Democratic primary election

Eleventh District Court of Appeals

Eklund's seat

General election

Republican primary election

Wright's seat

General election

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Twelfth District Court of Appeals

Powell's seat

General election

Republican primary election

Piper's seat

General election

Republican primary election

Judges not on the ballot

First District Court of Appeals

• Beth A. Myers (R)

Second District Court of Appeals

• Mary Donovan (R)
• Michael T. Hall (R)

Third District Court of Appeals

• Stephen R. Shaw (R)

Sixth District Court of Appeals

• Mark Pietrykowski (D)

Ninth District Court of Appeals

• Lynne S. Callahan (R)

Tenth District Court of Appeals

• Lisa Sadler (R)
• William Klatt (R)

2020

See also: Ohio intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

Judges with expiring terms

This is a list of the justices who had to stand for nonpartisan election in 2020 in order to remain on the bench. Justices could choose not to stand for election.

■ William Hoffman

2018

See also: Ohio intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Delaney's Seat

■ Patricia Delaney (Incumbent)

■ Andrew King

Gwin's Seat

■ Scott Gwin (Incumbent, unopposed)

Wise's Seat

■ John Wise (Incumbent, unopposed)

2016

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2016

Candidates

Judge Baldwin's seat

■ Craig Baldwin (R) (Unopposed/Incumbent)

Judge Farmer's seat

• Judge Sheila Farmer (R) reached the mandatory retirement age.

■ Earle Wise (D)
■ David Gormley (R)

Election results

November 8 general election

Incumbent Craig Baldwin ran unopposed in the general election for the Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Baldwin's seat.

Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Baldwin's Seat, 2016
Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Craig Baldwin Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	435,923
Total Votes (100% reporting)	435,923
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

Earle E. Wise, Jr. defeated David Gormley in the general election for the Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Farmer's seat.

Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Farmer's Seat, 2016
Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Earle E. Wise, Jr.	52.06%	262,312
	Republican	David Gormley	47.94%	241,595
Total Votes (100% reporting)	503,907
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

March 15 general election

Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Judge Baldwin's Seat Republican Primary, 2016
Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Craig Baldwin Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	194,269
Total Votes	194,269
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Judge Farmer's Seat Republican Primary, 2016
Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Gormley  (unopposed)	100.00%	193,994
Total Votes	193,994
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Judge Farmer's Seat Democratic Primary, 2016
Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Earle E. Wise, Jr.  (unopposed)	100.00%	84,638
Total Votes	84,638
Source: Ohio Secretary of State Official Results

2014

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2014

Unopposed	Judge William Hoffman (Term commencing 2/9/2015)

Unexpired term ending 2/9/2017

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Craig Baldwin	Yes	Republican	100%	55.9%
Earle E. Wise, Jr.	No	Democratic	44.1%
Natalie R. Haupt	No	Democratic	55.8%	44.1%

2012

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2012

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Term	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Flite H. Freimann	No	Republican	Term commencing 2/11/2013	31%
Jeanette Moll	No	Republican	Term commencing 2/11/2013	68.9%	34.7%
John Wise	Yes	Republican			100%
Patricia Delaney	Yes	Democratic			65.3%
Scott Gwin	Yes	Democratic			100%

2010

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2010

Court	Candidates	Details	Results
Fifth District, Term Commencing February 9	(R): Sheila Farmer	Sheila Farmer was up for re-election.	Sheila Farmer[14]
Fifth District, Term Commencing February 10	(R): Julie Edwards (D): Kristine Beard (L): Robert Brent Vollmer	Julie Edwards was up for re-election.	Julie Edwards won with 57 percent of the vote.

Ethics

The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Ohio. It consists of four overarching canons:

• Canon 1: A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
• Canon 2: A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently.
• Canon 3: A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities so as to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office.
• Canon 4: A judge or judicial candidate shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary.^[15]

The full text of the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Ohio may be removed in one of three ways:

• Retirement, removal or suspension by a special Supreme Court commission.
• Removal by a concurrent resolution of two-thirds of the members of both houses of the Ohio General Assembly.
• Conviction by a two-thirds vote of the Ohio Senate, upon impeachment by a majority vote of the Ohio House of Representatives.

State profile

Demographic data for Ohio
	Ohio	U.S.
Total population:	11,605,090	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	40,861	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	82.4%	73.6%
Black/African American:	12.2%	12.6%
Asian:	1.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	3.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.1%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	26.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,429	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.6%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Ohio. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Ohio

Ohio voted Republican in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, nine are located in Ohio, accounting for 4.37 percent of the total pivot counties.^[16]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Ohio had eight Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 4.42 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Ohio coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Ohio
• United States congressional delegations from Ohio
• Public policy in Ohio
• Endorsers in Ohio
• Ohio fact checks
• More...

See also

Ohio	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Ohio Ohio District Courts of Appeals Ohio Supreme Court	Elections: 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 Gubernatorial Appointments Judicial Selection in Ohio	Federal Courts Other State Courts Local Courts

External links

• Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals

Footnotes

v • e Ohio District Courts of Appeals Judicial selection in Ohio • 2024 elections • Ohio Supreme Court
First District	Robert C. Winkler  •  Marilyn Zayas  •  Ginger Bock  •  Jennifer Kinsley  •
Second District	Jeffrey M. Welbaum  •  Mary Katherine Huffman  •  Michael L. Tucker  •  Chris Epley  •  Ronald Lewis  •
Third District	John Willamowski  •  William R. Zimmerman  •  Mark Miller (Ohio court of appeals)  •  Juergen Waldick  •
Fourth District	Peter Abele  •  Marie Hoover  •  Mike Hess  •  Kristy Wilkin  •
Fifth District	Scott Gwin  •  William Hoffman  •  John Wise  •  Patricia Delaney  •  Andrew King (Ohio)  •
Sixth District	Thomas Osowik  •  Gene Zmuda  •  Myron Duhart  •  Christine Mayle  •  Charles Sulek  •
Seventh District	Cheryl Waite  •  Carol Ann Robb  •  Mark Hanni  •  Katelyn Dickey  •
Eighth District	Mary Boyle  •  Sean Gallagher  •  Mary Kilbane  •  Emanuella Groves  •  Kathleen Ann Keough  •  Anita Laster Mays  •  Deena R. Calabrese  •  Eileen T. Gallagher  •  Timothy McCormack (Ohio)  •  Michael John Ryan (Ohio)  •  Eileen A. Gallagher  •  Michelle Sheehan  •  Lisa Forbes  •
Ninth District	Donna Carr  •  Scot Stevenson  •  Betty Sutton  •  Jennifer Lee Hensal  •  Jill Flagg Lanzinger  •
Tenth District	Julia L. Dorrian  •  Terri Jamison  •  Betsy Luper Schuster  •  David Leland  •  Kristin Boggs  •  Michael Mentel  •  Carly Edelstein  •
Eleventh District	Mary Jane Trapp  •  Eugene A. Lucci  •  John Eklund (Ohio)  •  Matt Lynch  •  Robert Patton  •
Twelfth District	Stephen Powell  •  Robert Hendrickson (Ohio)  •  Michael E. Powell (Ohio)  •  Robin N. Piper  •  Matthew Byrne  •