Three Republicans compete to become Ashland County’s next Juvenile and Probate Judge

ASHLAND — The votes cast by Republican voters Tuesday, March 17 will likely determine who will become Ashland County’s next juvenile and probate court judge. 

Two Ashland-based lawyers and another of Loudonville are among the hopefuls running in the Republican primary, seeking to replace Judge Damian Vercillo, who can’t run again due to age restrictions. With no Democratic candidates contending in their party’s primary, it appears likely one of the three Republicans will become the new judge in January 2021. 

In the running for the position are the following candidates: Karen DeSanto Kellogg of Ashland, Joseph Kearns Jr. of Ashland and David Hunter of Perrysville but who practices law in Loudonville. 

Scroll to read about each candidate. They are listed in alphabetical order by last name. 

Karen DeSanto Kellogg

A partner in the DeSanto and Kellogg Law Office and mother of five, DeSanto Kellogg has outlined two primary goals for her platform: To run an efficient court that holds people accountable and to reduce drug use in both adults and juveniles. 

DeSanto Kellogg graduated from Ashland High School in 1993 and earned her law degree from Cleveland Marshall Law School in 2000. She has more than 18 years experience as an attorney and has served as an assistant prosecutor in Morrow, Richland and Ashland Counties, and she serves as a guardian ad litem in juvenile court and a guardian in probate court. 

“I believe it is part of the job to consider drug prevention efforts,” DeSanto Kellogg said. “When a child is in the courts on a drug-related issue, I’d have to make a decision on how to reprimand the child. If the court is hearing that and determining what’s the best way to handle this child, then the court should report back at some point.” 

She expressed a desire to see the court communicate with parents and schools to better address what may not be working. She specifically mentioned how at least one local school district doesn’t provide health education until ninth grade, which she considers too late. 

To run a more efficient court, DeSanto-Kellogg promised to consider how cases could be handled in a more timely fashion. She would consider technological updates and the development of a new tracking system for cases — one that would identify cases that could be more intensely or in some cases, more quickly handled.

“Currently, they are all treated the same in how they are scheduled, but maybe some criteria could be developed… so we might be able to return these children sooner,” she said. 

In one scenario, a family may need to simply connect with resources to better care for their child, while in another a child’s safety may be at risk. The first could be addressed faster than the latter, which should be tracked more intensely, DeSanto Kellogg said.

For custody cases, she wonders if mediation could be added as a conflict-resolution tool that could require less of a judge or magistrate’s limited time.  

In the juvenile court, DeSanto Kellogg said she’d be curious to consider a volunteer program to further benefit adults in need of a guardian. Currently, local attorneys are assigned to represent adults with such a need. 

“I have a son who is disabled, and when he becomes and adult, someone will need to be his guardian. And I think I have a unique perspective on that because I have one of those persons in my home and facing the uncertainty of what life looks like for your loved ones when you’re not there,” she said. “I understand really what’s at stake. Critical life decisions are at stake, and I do think having someone like that in my home and the unique understanding it gives me, qualifies me in a different way than the other two.” 

She’s endorsed by the Ashland County Sheriff and the Mayor of Loudonville. 

DeSanto Kellogg is the secretary of the Ashland Parenting Plus Board and has served as a board member and chair of the Appleseed Community Mental Health Board. 

She has experience serving as a guardian for adults and in other capacities for the probate court and has served in “almost every role in the juvenile courtroom except for judge.” She noted her experience representing the department of job and family services, which she believes further amplifies her understanding of its perspective, but clarified that the department’s role is different than her’s would be as judge. 

“The only legal obligation I believe the court has is to make a best interest determination. One of the things that’s unique is that in the juvenile court system is everyone has a different role… The courts role is to hear the evidence and make a decision in the child’s best interest,” she said. “Reunification and being raised by your parents is a consideration and a factor in the child’s best interest.” 

So long as she has the community’s support, DeSanto Kellogg expressed a desire to serve as juvenile and probate court judge for a number of terms. 

“My long term intention would be to transform the lives of children and families of Ashland County with the partners in place here,” she said. “When I leave my role as judge, I want to see decreased drug use, I want children to feel their voices will be heard… and Ashland County to be healthier, happier community.”

David M. Hunter 

Hunter has practiced law from his own private practice in Loudonville for more than 20 years, representing clients in more than five Ohio counties in that time.

“My broad perspective is what I think I bring most to the table — having practiced in these other courts. Someone asked me the other day, so how can you see this but nobody else sees it… my opponents say they want to address the drug issue, the court issue, but they haven’t said how. I know how,” Hunter said. 

Joseph Kearns, Jr. 

In addition to bringing his more than 25 years of experience, Kearns argues he’s the best candidate bring the level of passion and commitment needed to serve as Ashland County Probate and Juvenile Court Judge. 

Currently a partner at the Firm of Mason, Mason & Kearns, he has served as acting judge in the Ashland Municipal Court, a guardian ad litem for domestic relations and juvenile court and a guardian in probate court. He also noted how he has argued cases before the Ohio Supreme Court and filed cases in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. 

Within the probate and juvenile courts, Kearns said, he’s well experience in every type of case that could be brought before him if he were elected judge. 

He graduated from Ashland University in 1985 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from The Ohio State University in 1989. He earned his law degree from Creighton University School of Law in 1994. 

Kearns started his career at Mason, Mason, Sullivan & Mason in 1994, and firm changed its name to include Kearns as a partner in 1997. He is a past president of the Ashland County Bar Association and a past board member of the Ashland County Mental Health and Recovery Board, where he had served for 8 years.

“I want to create a court where when the children come in, they are treated with dignity, they are treated with respect… You get a juvenile, you have to be able to take time to listen to them, be patient with them, be firm with them as necessary, and I think my disposition is best suited for this,” Kearns said. “I am committed, I’m able to listen, and I have a good temperament for this.”  

He anticipates the person elected judge will need to often work 10-hour days and occasional weekends to do the job effectively. He said he’s seen Judge Vercillo’s vehicle outside the courthouse on Saturday mornings, and if elected, Kearns promised to be present in a similar manner.

“That’s the time frame you’re looking at to effectively do that job,” he said.

Unlike Hunter, Kearns does not support initial hearings.  He said they did exist at one point, and he wouldn’t bring them back.

“It was a formality that was not necessary, and Judge Vercillo came to that conclusion on his own,” Kearns said.

If he came across a program that could benefit children or parents in his courtroom, Kearns said, he’d consider bringing it before the county commissioners and others to bring it to fruition. However, he went on to say that funding would make this challenging. He calls his opponents’ ideas “aspirational.” 

Kearns addressed the notion of a  juvenile detention facility in Ashland, too, saying he would not support opening a local facility. The former facility, he said, would not be allowed to open if built today. The current judge saved the county $300,000 in closing it, he continued. He’s called the facility used in Erie County a “good deal for us” and a “good and clean facility.”

On how he’d approach his decision-making role as juvenile court judge, Kearns said, reunification would be a goal of his. 

“Parents absolutely have a right to due process… Not all parents are perfect… but at the end of the day, the judge has to listen to the evidence and make the ultimate decision, and obviously, I wouldn’t put a child in an unsafe situation, but we can’t not return a child because they live in a small house or they don’t have a driver’s license,” he said. 

Kearns married his wife, Sarah Hootman Kearns in 2000. They reside in Milton Township.