New faces will soon sit on three Ohio municipal courts. Gov. John Kasich recently appointed James F. Long to serve as a judge on the Kettering Municipal Court, James H. Hewitt III to sit on the Cleveland Municipal Court bench, and J. Curtis Werren to serve on the Canton Municipal Court.

Dayton resident Long will assume office on Thursday. He’s replacing retired Judge Thomas M. Hanna. Long must win in November 2015 to retain his seat for the remainder of the unexpired term, which ends Dec. 31, 2017.

Long received his law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He’s currently a citizen police academy instructor and has been a guest lecturer at Sinclair Community College for its criminal justice program. Prior to this, Long was in private practice. He also served as an assistant public defender for Montgomery County and as Kettering’s city prosecutor.

Cleveland attorney Hewitt will take over on March 1 as judge in Cleveland. He’s replacing Judge Anita Laster Mays, who was elected to the Eight District Court of Appeals. Hewitt must win the November 2015 election to retain his seat for a full term commencing on Jan. 1, 2016.

Hewitt received his law degree from Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He previously served in private practice and as East Cleveland’s law director. Prior experience also includes being a bar examiner for the Ohio Board of Bar Examiners and president of the Cuyahoga County Law Directors Association.

Werren will take over as judge in Canton on Feb. 9 for Judge Stephen F. Belden, who resigned. Werren must win in November 2015 to retain the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term, which ends Jan. 1, 2018.

Werren, of Canton, received his law degree from Moritz. He previously served as a judge on the Stark County Common Pleas Court and was in private practice. He was also the executive director and CEO of the American Red Cross, Stark County Chapter.

Gov. Kasich appointed the three attorneys on Jan. 30.