Third District Court of Appeals Judge John Willamowski (file photo).

Third District Court of Appeals Judge John Willamowski (file photo).

Third District Court of Appeals Judge John Willamowski served as a visiting judge on the Ohio Supreme Court today and heard oral arguments in cases involving whether bank forgeries can be combined to make them felonies.

Judge Willamowski was selected to sit in place of Justice R. Patrick DeWine, who recused himself from State of Ohio v. LaShawn Pettus, Case Nos. 2019-0914 and 2019-1027.

“I was honored to participate with the Ohio Supreme Court for the remote oral argument of today’s first case,” Judge Willamowski said. “It’s always a pleasure to work with other conscientious jurists to resolve intricate questions of law.”

According to the Ohio Constitution, in the event of a recusal by a justice, the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court can select any of the 69 sitting Ohio appellate court judges to sit temporarily on the Ohio Supreme Court.

In 2006, Judge Willamowski was elected to the Third District, where he has served as the presiding judge and as the administrative judge.

The Third District serves 17 counties in northwest Ohio and hears cases from county, municipal, and common pleas courts, as well as original actions in habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, procedendo, and quo warranto.

Before his election to the bench, Judge Willamowski engaged in the private practice of law for more than two decades. He also was appointed to and served a total of five terms in the Ohio House of Representatives beginning in 1997 and ending in 2006 as a result of Ohio’s legislative term limits.

Judge Willamowski earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from Ohio Northern University.