Gov. John Kasich today appointed Joseph W. Kirby of Springboro as judge of the Warren County Common Pleas Court, Probate/ Juvenile Division.  Since March 2005, Kirby has served as the Area II Judge for the Warren County Court, presiding over cases involving misdemeanor criminal, traffic, and civil disputes.

Kirby replaces Judge Michael Powell, who was recently appointed to a vacant seat on the Twelfth District Court of Appeals. Kirby will assume office April 29, 2013, and must run in November 2014 to retain the seat for the full term, which commences on February 9, 2015.

Kirby received a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from Miami University in Oxford, and earned his law degree from the Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University.  

Kirby served in the United States Air Force Reserve as an Operations Management Officer from 1987 to 1996. He then became a military lawyer for the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he provided legal assistance to over 2,000 assigned personnel until 2008.