Ninth District Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Hensal

Ninth District Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Hensal

Ninth District Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Hensal served as a visiting judge on the Ohio Supreme Court today and heard oral arguments in a case on whether the Ohio Power Siting Board properly considered the safety and impact of a Cincinnati natural gas pipeline.

Judge Hensal replaced Justice Patrick F. Fischer, who recused himself from In the Matter of the Application of Duke Energy, Ohio, Inc., for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the C314V Central Corridor Pipeline Extension Project, Case No. 2020-0511.

“It is always an honor and a privilege to be asked by the chief justice to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court,” Judge Hensal said. “I very much enjoy interacting with the justices and with the court staff during this process.”

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 was Judge Hensal’s third time serving as a visiting judge on the state’s highest court.

Judge Hensal joined the Ninth District in 2013. She had served as the assistant law director in Wadsworth and as an assistant prosecutor in Medina and Wadsworth. She also represented other municipalities, including the villages of Seville and Lodi in Medina County.

Judge Hensal earned her law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1993.

The Ninth District Court of Appeals serves four counties in northern 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.