Delaware County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth J. Spicer.

Delaware County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth J. Spicer.

Delaware County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth J. Spicer will serve a two-year term as president of the Ohio Association of Probate Judges after his election Wednesday during the group’s summer conference.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as President of the Ohio Association of Probate Judges and to continue the legacy of service to the probate community created by my predecessors,” Judge Spicer said.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor administered the oath of office to Judge Spicer and other officers on Wednesday. She encouraged judges, including those on the domestic relations and juvenile court bench who were also holding their mid-year meetings, to provide their input on her eight proposals to strengthen judicial elections. The associations for domestic relations and juvenile court judges elect their officeholders in December.

The other probate court judges elected to officer positions within the association include:

• Pickaway County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Jan Michael Long, president-elect
• Stark County Probate Court Judge Dixie N. Park, first vice president
• Clark County Probate Court Judge Richard P. Carey, second vice president
• Cuyahoga County Probate Court Judge Laura J. Gallagher, secretary/historian
• Lorain County Probate Court Judge James T. Walther, treasurer
• Ottawa County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Kathleen L. Giesler, past president.

In addition, two at-large members were elected to the executive committee: Franklin County Probate Court Judge Robert G. Montgomery and Brown County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Margaret A. Clark.

Judges also took courses to fulfill their continuing judicial education requirements. Some of those topics included sessions for domestic relations and juvenile court judges on trauma’s impact on the family and sessions on adoptions and managing access to records for probate court judges.