Twelfth District Court of Appeals Judge Robert P. Ringland.

Twelfth District Court of Appeals Judge Robert P. Ringland.

Twelfth District Court of Appeals Judge Robert P. Ringland served as a visiting judge on the Ohio Supreme Court today. Judge Ringland replaced Justice Judith L. French, who recused herself from State ex rel. Nese v. State Teachers Retirement System (Case No. 2012-0251).

The case involves a group of Jefferson County teachers, who work through a private company to provide online instruction to public school students, who are challenging lower court rulings that upheld a decision by the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) terminating the plaintiffs’ participation in the STRS pension fund.

According to the Ohio Constitution, in the event of a recusal by a justice, the chief justice can select any of the 69 sitting Ohio appellate court judges to sit temporarily on the Supreme Court. This is Judge Ringland’s first time hearing arguments for a Supreme Court case.

“It was interesting working with the justices and hearing oral arguments at the Supreme Court,” Judge Ringland said. “I now have a firsthand experience in viewing how the problem-solving process works in Ohio’s highest court.”

Judge Ringland has served on the Twelfth District Court of Appeals since 2009. Prior to serving on the appellate bench, Judge Ringland had been a Common Pleas judge for 26 years. He also served as a county court judge for 6 years, an assistant prosecuting attorney for 3 years, and a practicing attorney for 11 years. Judge Ringland is a graduate from The Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati Law School.

The Twelfth District Court of Appeals serves eight counties, and its central office is located in Middletown, Ohio. The court hears cases from county, municipal and common pleas courts as well as original actions in habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, procedendo and quo warranto.