Keith Washburn

Keith Washburn

A vacant seat on the Chillicothe Municipal Court will be filled early next month by a former police chief turned lawyer.

Keith Washburn will take the bench on Feb. 3 after his appointment today by Gov. Mike DeWine. Washburn will finish the term of Judge Toni Eddy, who retired, and must run for election in November to retain the seat.

Washburn’s legal career began in 2018 when he opened his own practice, which he continues to operate today. He spent several months in 2020 working as an assistant prosecutor for Jackson County and has worked as a staff attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council since September 2020.

Prior to earning his law degree from Capital University in 2018, Washburn had an extensive career in law enforcement. He started as a patrolman for the city of Chillicothe in 1995. He would go on to become the chief of police, a position he held until May 2020. Washburn spent nearly a decade training law enforcement officers as an instructor for the Ohio University Chillicothe Southern Police Training Institute.

Washburn served in the military from 1990 until 1993 as an intelligence analyst specialist in the 4th Infantry Division of the United States Army.

In 2012, Washburn received his associate degree in law enforcement technology followed by a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Ohio University in 2013.