June 17, 2023 • 19 mins
Brent Robinson is a judge in the Richland County Common Pleas Court. Robinson is in the general division and has been on the bench since 2014. Brent was born in Mansfield and is a graduate of Lexington high school . Robinson attended college at Otterbein and law school at Capital University. Learn more about Brent, his family, how many cases he handles in a year and all of the duties of a local judge - on the podcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The CEO you Should Know, broughtto you by Robie Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week CEO Richland County Common PoliceCourt, Judge Brent Robinson. First
of all, good morning, thanksfor coming in today. Good morning,
Aaron. Thank you for having me. Absolutely i've heard the name. We've
never met, so terrific to haveyou in the studio. I want to
(00:23):
begin at the top because I sayjudge, and I know there's multiple divisions.
Could we start with your exact title? The exact title is Judge Brent
Robinson, Common Please Court, GeneralDivision. So when we hear general Division,
can you explain the divisions? Sure, there are four different divisions in
Richland County. There's the General Division, which is Judge Naumoff and myself.
(00:46):
There is the Juvenile Division, thereis the Probate Division, and there is
Domestic Relations Division. The General Divisionhas two judges, the Juvenile division has
one. The Probate Division has won, and the Domestic Relations has won.
All right, so people may notknow that there were multiple divisions and things
like that, so it's good tolearn that. But as we start with
(01:07):
you, how long overall have youbeen a judge? My first day on
the bench was February tenth, twentyfourteen, and I was appointed to replace
Judge Henson who retired in the middleof his term. And I was appointed
by the governor. Governor Kasik appointedme to replace him, and then I
had to run that in November tofinish out Judge Henson's term. So I
(01:30):
was on the ballot in November oftwenty fourteen. I like, you know
the exact date. Love those kindof things, all right, So as
we begin, could we talk aboutthe daily duties of a judge. People
may think of a judge in thecourtroom, and I know there's many other
things, So could be a giveus an overview of what you do.
Sure, the General Division has tohandle all of the criminal and civil cases
(01:55):
that come before the court. Socriminal cases, those would be felony cases.
Misdemeanors where you can go to jailare handled in municipal court. Felony
cases where a person can be sentto prison are handled in the Common Police
Court where I'm the judge. Thenthere's also civil suits. Civil lawsuits with
amounts of fifteen thousand dollars or more, those would be the cases that come
(02:15):
to us. So it would bedispute with a higher dollar amount. All
right, so you're hearing the voicethis morning of Judge Brent Robinson, who
is this week CEO. You shouldknow he mentioned Common Police Court judge the
General Division. So in terms ofa normal week for you, I mean,
how does it work in terms ofbeing in court and everything else that
(02:37):
you do? I guess what's anormal week look like? So a normal
week, Monday is reserved for criminaltrials. So Monday and Tuesday we try
to schedule other things, but wetry to keep those days a little bit
lighter so that if we do havetrials set every single Monday, that isn't
a holiday. I do have criminalcases set for trial, and there's multiple
criminal cases. There might be asmany as ten or fifteen. Now does
(02:59):
that mean I have a trial everyMonday. No, because many of those
cases will resolve with plea agreements,those kind of things. Wednesday is my
criminal day. That's a day wherewe are busy from eight till about four
four thirty. Change of pleas,sentencings, probation violations, final pre trials,
and sealment hearings. Those are whatwe do all day on Wednesdays,
(03:23):
Thursday and Friday are reserved for civiljury trials, and also we do drug
court and re entry court. Drugcourt is on Thursday and re entry Court
is on Friday. So it soundslike a busy place, correct, it's
very busy. We oversee Judge Namofand I are co judges in the General
Division branch, and we oversee almostfifty employees. Oh wow. Now,
(03:46):
in terms of a year, isthere a number of cases? I'm sure
it varies. I don't know ifyou haven't any type of ballpark figures when
it comes to that. Generally there'sabout a thousand criminal cases filed by the
prosecutors. Some years, in ahigher year they're twelve hundred, some years
eight hundred. But generally an averagewould be a thousand cases. Of those
thousand cases in a year, Ihave to resolve five hundred, then Judge
(04:10):
Namoff has to resolve five hundred.So I think about it this way.
Do I have five hundred mondays ina year. Of course not. You
know, there's fifty two weeks ina year, but I don't have l
fifty two for criminal trials. Whatdoes that mean? That means many of
those cases are going to resolve withouttrials, and then in the civil realm,
we have six hundred civil cases,so I'd have three hundred civil cases
to resolve, and Judge Namof wouldhave three hundred civil cases resolve. And
(04:33):
again most of those cases do notend up going to trial, they're resolved
before trial. We're in studio thismorning with Judge Brent Robinson, Richland County
Common Police Court Judge General Division.So the next thing would be to ask
where are you located, where's thecourt where's all of that located at within
(04:54):
the county. We are located downtownMansfield, fifty Park Avenue East on the
third floor. My court room,Judge Namos courtroom are up on the third
floor. We have the second floorwhere we have three magistrates who work for
us. We are currently having theclerk's office turned into another courtroom so that
we would have three thin courtrooms.And really we need three courtrooms because I
(05:15):
need a courtroom, judge, andI'm off needs a courtroom. The magistrates
need their own courtroom. We havea hearing room also or we do arraignments,
we do bond hearings, those kindof things. So when we're up
to full staff, full capacity,we will have three courtrooms and one hearing
room. So talking with the countycommissioners that it can be a busy place
(05:38):
and that's why the need for thatextra courtroom, right just because there's just
so much going on. There willbe times when we have these what you
want to call three courtrooms in ahearing room where all four rooms will be
being used at one time. Allright, So good to learn about Judge
Brent Robinson. This morning, we'regonna step away from work and find out
a little bit more about you.So let's step back all the way to
(06:00):
the beginning and find out where wasBrent Robinson Bourne here in Mansfield, Ohio.
Mansfield General Hospital it was called backthen. That was back in nineteen
sixty nine, and I was bornand raised here in Richland County. Grew
up in Mansfield close to Middle BellebelleRoad, Straw Road, Hanley Road area
(06:20):
where I grew up. Graduated fromLexington High School nineteen eighty seven, then
went to college at Otterbye in Westerville, and then went to law school at
Capitol University, which at that timewas located in German Village down in Columbus.
Since then, they've moved the lawschool to write downtown Columbus on Broad
(06:41):
Street. All right, So thequestion would be growing up in Mansfield going
to Lexington. Was there always aspirationsto go to law school, be a
judge where you're thinking other things growingup? And then how did you I
guess wind up where you are today? Can we have that story? Sure?
My father was a long time generalpractice attorney, Charles Robinson in Richland
(07:02):
County. In fact, he didn'teven retire till he was seventy nine years
old, so just recently did heretire. So I had a father who
was an attorney, had a grandfatherwho was an auctioneer and also was a
state rep for twelve years. Sogrowing up I didn't know exactly what I
wanted to do. I knew Iwas interested in law, but I didn't
(07:23):
know what I wanted to do.Just so happens that by far my best
subject in school was history. Sowhen I went to college, I thought
I didn't want to get good gradesbecause I do want to go on and
maybe go into some kind of schoolingafter college. What can I get good
grades in? Well? History?So I was a history major. Well,
when you're a history major, youdo kind of limit your options.
(07:43):
So I thought, well, Icould be a history teacher, a history
professor at a college, or Icould go to law school. So I
did decide to go to law school, following my father's footsteps. After law
school, I always had an interestin being a prosecutor, so I was
able to get a job at theRichland County Prosecutor's Office out of law school.
I started out part time. Idid the Prosecutor's office thirty hours a
(08:07):
week, and then I did somework with my dad in private practice.
After doing that for six years,I decided that I really enjoyed the prosecutors
side of it more so I wentfull time as a prosecutor and stayed there
up until the judge position opened whereJudge Henson's position opened. When he decided
he wanted to retire, he calledme on the phone and said get ready
(08:30):
and gave me about two weeks ofa headstart notice, so over anybody else.
So then it was a natural transition. Most of the judges in Richeland
County, whether it's common please judgesand there's five of us or municipal court
judges, most of those judges haveat one time or another worked in the
Richeland County Prosecutor's Office. So it'skind of a nice stepping stone to go
(08:52):
from one to the other, especiallyfor my job, where about seventy five
percent of my job is handling criminalcases. My criminal case load is great
than my civil case load, somost of my day is spent dealing with
criminal cases. Well, coming outof the Prosecutor's office, most of my
time at the Prosecutor's Office was dealingwith criminal cases, although they also do
civil matters. I also do civilmatters, but seventy five of the job
(09:16):
is more of the criminal cases.Well, it's great to learn all about
Judge Brent Robinson this week, CEO. You should know Ritzling County Common Police
Court judge in the General Division.I think he's a grandfather. Do you
ever try a auctioneering anything like that? No, yes, I would have
been fourth generation auctioneer if I haddone that, but I didn't go that
(09:37):
route. But I do still enjoyif I hear an auction it definitely catches
my ear. That's a scale.That's a scale. You have to go
to school for that, I mean, and you have to learn and get
a chant going. And it's aneat way to sell property quickly. So
yeah, my grandfather did auctioneering.My dad did auctioneering with my grandfather,
(09:58):
and then my grand father also wasa state rep for twelve years for Richland
County. So that's kind of myinterest in that area too, with law
and those kind of things. Oh, terrific to learn again about Judge Brent
Robinson this morning. Well, whilewe're on the topic of you, let's
find out a bit more married kids, could you tell us a little bit
(10:18):
about Brent Robinson in the family.Yep, married to my wife, Shannon.
Were married in nineteen ninety four.We dated from college on. We
met at Autterbine College. However,I did not want to get married until
I finished law school. I actuallygot married and found out my bar results
whether I passed the bar exam theday before my wedding. That was not
(10:41):
intended. That's just kind of howthat worked out, and it would have
been a real downer coming to thewedding had I found out that I did
not pass the bar. However,I did pass the bar exam, so
it was nice when I had introducedat the wedding. I was introduced as
attorney Brent Robinson and Shannon Robinson.So been married since nineteen ninety four to
(11:03):
my wife Shannon. We have twokids. Both of them go to Ohio
State. One is trying to getinto dental school at Ohio State. The
other one might be interested in lawschool. She doesn't quite know what she
wants to do. So that's thestatus of the family. All right.
Now, what do you do whenyou are not working? How about spare
(11:26):
time? Do you have any hobbies. I love to travel. I used
to joke and say, you know, if I couldn't travel, I really
wouldn't want to work because I dolove traveling. I do love hiking.
Skiing is a huge passion of myson and I. We try to take
a trip somewhere every year to goskiing out west somewhere and ski locally.
(11:48):
Those would be the three passions Ihave. Travel, skiing, and I
have gotten recently into hiking, soI've been doing all the hiking trails here
locally around the county. Also travelwilling to go hiking other places around the
state. Just really enjoy that gettingoutside, getting outside with nature. And
you told me you followed the localsports scene too, right, I do,
(12:11):
I do, I do follow localsports. I like to go to
all the high school football games ona Friday night. It's just trying to
figure out which one to go toand what's the best matchup. A group
of friends and I try to makesure that we make it to a game
every Friday night. And the mostimportant thing, where are we going to
eat before the game? Love itlove and nothing like Friday night under the
lights. Absolutely all right, Well, before I let you go, it's
(12:33):
been a great conversation this morning.We're talking with Judge Brent Robinson, this
week's CEO. You should know RichlandCounty Common Police Court Judge the General Division.
There are two things you brought upto me that we wanted to touch
on, and that was drug courtand reentry Court. So could you explain
(12:54):
those? And I know Richland Countyyou told me, is one of just
a few for one of those andone of the first for the others,
so it kind of interesting if youchase some of the details on those.
We'll start out with drug Court.Judge Henson, my predecessor, started the
first drug court, one of thefirst drug courts in Ohio in nineteen ninety
seven, and drug court is forlow level nonviolent offenders. Generally, it's
(13:16):
first time offenders who committed a crimebecause of their substance abuse, and drug
court works like this. You bringthe person into the court, you make
them go through a treatment program,you make them pay restitution if there's any
restitution ode. Generally the person isin the drug court for eighteen months,
sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, dependinghow they do. If they graduate successfully
from drug court, their case issealed, so their conviction is no longer
(13:41):
part of the public record. That'sthe benefit for the people, and a
lot of them are used type offenses. We don't put any dealers in drug
court. It would be someone who'susing drugs, using alcohol it caused them
to commit a crime. Low level, non violent, gives them an opportunity
to complete a program, get sober, get productive. When I'm working,
we want them doing well. Wework with them. It's it's collaborative in
(14:03):
that we bring probation officers and webring treatment folks in from the community to
work with these people, and ifthey successfully complete it, they won't have
a felony conviction on their record.That's drug court. We also do some
drug court with people who are onprobation who will have a felony record,
but they still need the treatment,so it's a treatment option to try to
get them sober and productive. Wealso have reentry Court Judge DeWeese who was
(14:28):
there before Judge Namoff. He actuallystarted the reinry court. The reentry court
is people who are coming out ofprison and it's designed to try to work
with those people for a year andensure they don't ever go back. So
the idea of reentry court is youcome out of prison, you go see
a judge, you see a hearingofficer from the Adult pro authority, work
with them for a year and hopefullydon't ever go back. Different kind of
(14:52):
individual drug court generally a young personwho has no real criminal history at all.
Reentry court, you're dealing with someonewho probably maybe has a long record,
maybe they've been to prison several times. That's a different kind of person,
a little bit tougher maybe to beginwith to work with. But when
we explain to him, hey,we're just here to try to prevent you
from ever going back to prison.Generally we have a common goal. We
(15:13):
work with them. If they successfullygraduate after a year, they get off
supervision. Hopefully I don't see themagain except out and about, but not
in the courtroom again hopefully. Andyou are telling me both of those courts,
the Drug Court and the reentry Courthave been going on for over twenty
years. I think you told meDrug Court was ninety seven, Drug Court
(15:35):
was nineteen ninety seven, reinter Courttwo thousand. Yeah, so they're both
certified by the Ohio Supreme Court.All right, Well, it's been a
good conversation this morning learning about everythingthat goes on with Judge Brent Robinson.
Multiple divisions. He of course isthe General Division Richland County Common Police Court
Judge Judge Robinson. Somebody may wonderthey hear you know, somebody being elected
(15:56):
mayor or they're own city council oris it two year? Four year?
How long is it in terms ofa term for a judge for you,
for Common Police Court judges six yearterms and we are nonpartisan at this time,
so it's a six year term.We can continue to be judge until
you turn seventy. Once you turnseventy, under Ohio law, you can
no longer run for judge. Youcan finish your term, but once you've
(16:18):
turned seventy years old, you canno longer run again. But a lot
of people didn't know that. Idid not know that. One other question
popped into my mind, and I'llask you real quick here. Being a
judge, just like I'm sure anythingelse. In terms of work, your
laws change and you have, youknow a lot of things. You guys
probably have to have conferences or differentthings, right to be up on the
(16:41):
latest laws and all those kind ofthings to do your job right. Yeah,
the Ohio legislature is constantly revising higherlaw all the time. As a
judge, I take on oath tofollow the law as it is, not
as I wish it might be,but as it is. I tell the
jury they have to do the samething. Jurors have to follow the laws
it is. Maybe they don't agreewith it. If you don't agree with
the law, then you contact yourlegislature and try to change it. But
(17:04):
because I have to follow the lawas it is, I have to stay
updated on the latest changes, andthe legislature is always changing the law.
So we do go to a lotof conferences and we try to figure out,
Okay, what's the latest law thatwas passed, and we want to
make sure we implement that, andthen generally, once we've figured that out,
(17:26):
they'll change it again. So wehave to go for more continuing education
to make sure that we're always applyingthe law as it is, and it's
always in flux. Legislature's meeting rightnow and there's several bills right now,
and I get a cheat sheet thatshows me these are the things that they're
thinking about changing, so we cancomment in advance. And every year there's
(17:48):
quite a few things that they're thinkingabout changing. But we have to stay
up to date. We have tomake sure we're following the law as soon
as it gets passed, when doesit go into effect, making sure that
we're following it as it is,all right, So a lot of things
you probably didn't know judges do.And that's why we're having a great conversation
this morning with Judge Brent Robinson.If somebody wants more information about the court,
(18:11):
is it just as easy to goto the county website to be able
to get phone numbers and those kindof things. We're on the county website.
We also have a number four onenine seven seven four five five seven
zero. That's our main number ifyou need questions or somebody we have staff.
I have fourteen employees that work withme. In the court itself,
we have probation officers. We havetwenty four probation officers too, it people,
(18:34):
and then we have nine court housesecurity employees. But anybody that has
questions or was wondering, we havea lot of questions about jury service.
We do a lot of jury trials. We have actually four bailiffs, but
I have two bailiffs specifically that dojury questions, work with juries, help
them. We call them jury commissioners, work with jurors. Any questions they
(18:55):
would have, they can call thatnumber or go on the website and then
they'll have numbers that they can callthe website Richland County, oh dot gov.
He gave the phone number and peopleprobably didn't know, you know,
how many people work in the courtand all those kind of things. So
it's been great to learn the storyabout Judge Brent Robinson. This week's CEO.
You should know again Richland County CommonPolice Court judge in the general division.
(19:18):
And I'm going to look forward toseeing you at a high school football
game, maybe multiple here coming upin the fall. It's been great to
learn your story. Thank you somuch. For coming in and we wish
you continued success. Thank you verymuch. Aaron Brent Robinson, Richland County
Common Police Court Judge, thus CEOyou should know rita bio. See a
photo and hear the extended interview atWMAANFM dot com. Leading means having a
(19:45):
vision and sharing it with others.I'm John Roby of RF and ME Insurance.
We're excited to bring you this programfeaturing CEOs from our area who will
share the thoughts of what it meansto work and live in north central Ohio.
The CEO you Should Know, broughtto you by Robie Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week CEO Richland County Common PoliceCourt, Judge Brent Robinson. First
of all, good morning, thanksfor coming in today. Good morning,
Aaron. Thank you for having me. Absolutely i've heard the name. We've
never met, so terrific to haveyou in the studio. I want to
(00:23):
begin at the top because I sayjudge, and I know there's multiple divisions.
Could we start with your exact title? The exact title is Judge Brent
Robinson, Common Please Court, GeneralDivision. So when we hear general Division,
can you explain the divisions? Sure, there are four different divisions in
Richland County. There's the General Division, which is Judge Naumoff and myself.
(00:46):
There is the Juvenile Division, thereis the Probate Division, and there is
Domestic Relations Division. The General Divisionhas two judges, the Juvenile division has
one. The Probate Division has won, and the Domestic Relations has won.
All right, so people may notknow that there were multiple divisions and things
like that, so it's good tolearn that. But as we start with
(01:07):
you, how long overall have youbeen a judge? My first day on
the bench was February tenth, twentyfourteen, and I was appointed to replace
Judge Henson who retired in the middleof his term. And I was appointed
by the governor. Governor Kasik appointedme to replace him, and then I
had to run that in November tofinish out Judge Henson's term. So I
(01:30):
was on the ballot in November oftwenty fourteen. I like, you know
the exact date. Love those kindof things, all right, So as
we begin, could we talk aboutthe daily duties of a judge. People
may think of a judge in thecourtroom, and I know there's many other
things, So could be a giveus an overview of what you do.
Sure, the General Division has tohandle all of the criminal and civil cases
(01:55):
that come before the court. Socriminal cases, those would be felony cases.
Misdemeanors where you can go to jailare handled in municipal court. Felony
cases where a person can be sentto prison are handled in the Common Police
Court where I'm the judge. Thenthere's also civil suits. Civil lawsuits with
amounts of fifteen thousand dollars or more, those would be the cases that come
(02:15):
to us. So it would bedispute with a higher dollar amount. All
right, so you're hearing the voicethis morning of Judge Brent Robinson, who
is this week CEO. You shouldknow he mentioned Common Police Court judge the
General Division. So in terms ofa normal week for you, I mean,
how does it work in terms ofbeing in court and everything else that
(02:37):
you do? I guess what's anormal week look like? So a normal
week, Monday is reserved for criminaltrials. So Monday and Tuesday we try
to schedule other things, but wetry to keep those days a little bit
lighter so that if we do havetrials set every single Monday, that isn't
a holiday. I do have criminalcases set for trial, and there's multiple
criminal cases. There might be asmany as ten or fifteen. Now does
(02:59):
that mean I have a trial everyMonday. No, because many of those
cases will resolve with plea agreements,those kind of things. Wednesday is my
criminal day. That's a day wherewe are busy from eight till about four
four thirty. Change of pleas,sentencings, probation violations, final pre trials,
and sealment hearings. Those are whatwe do all day on Wednesdays,
(03:23):
Thursday and Friday are reserved for civiljury trials, and also we do drug
court and re entry court. Drugcourt is on Thursday and re entry Court
is on Friday. So it soundslike a busy place, correct, it's
very busy. We oversee Judge Namofand I are co judges in the General
Division branch, and we oversee almostfifty employees. Oh wow. Now,
(03:46):
in terms of a year, isthere a number of cases? I'm sure
it varies. I don't know ifyou haven't any type of ballpark figures when
it comes to that. Generally there'sabout a thousand criminal cases filed by the
prosecutors. Some years, in ahigher year they're twelve hundred, some years
eight hundred. But generally an averagewould be a thousand cases. Of those
thousand cases in a year, Ihave to resolve five hundred, then Judge
(04:10):
Namoff has to resolve five hundred.So I think about it this way.
Do I have five hundred mondays ina year. Of course not. You
know, there's fifty two weeks ina year, but I don't have l
fifty two for criminal trials. Whatdoes that mean? That means many of
those cases are going to resolve withouttrials, and then in the civil realm,
we have six hundred civil cases,so I'd have three hundred civil cases
to resolve, and Judge Namof wouldhave three hundred civil cases resolve. And
(04:33):
again most of those cases do notend up going to trial, they're resolved
before trial. We're in studio thismorning with Judge Brent Robinson, Richland County
Common Police Court Judge General Division.So the next thing would be to ask
where are you located, where's thecourt where's all of that located at within
(04:54):
the county. We are located downtownMansfield, fifty Park Avenue East on the
third floor. My court room,Judge Namos courtroom are up on the third
floor. We have the second floorwhere we have three magistrates who work for
us. We are currently having theclerk's office turned into another courtroom so that
we would have three thin courtrooms.And really we need three courtrooms because I
(05:15):
need a courtroom, judge, andI'm off needs a courtroom. The magistrates
need their own courtroom. We havea hearing room also or we do arraignments,
we do bond hearings, those kindof things. So when we're up
to full staff, full capacity,we will have three courtrooms and one hearing
room. So talking with the countycommissioners that it can be a busy place
(05:38):
and that's why the need for thatextra courtroom, right just because there's just
so much going on. There willbe times when we have these what you
want to call three courtrooms in ahearing room where all four rooms will be
being used at one time. Allright, So good to learn about Judge
Brent Robinson. This morning, we'regonna step away from work and find out
a little bit more about you.So let's step back all the way to
(06:00):
the beginning and find out where wasBrent Robinson Bourne here in Mansfield, Ohio.
Mansfield General Hospital it was called backthen. That was back in nineteen
sixty nine, and I was bornand raised here in Richland County. Grew
up in Mansfield close to Middle BellebelleRoad, Straw Road, Hanley Road area
(06:20):
where I grew up. Graduated fromLexington High School nineteen eighty seven, then
went to college at Otterbye in Westerville, and then went to law school at
Capitol University, which at that timewas located in German Village down in Columbus.
Since then, they've moved the lawschool to write downtown Columbus on Broad
(06:41):
Street. All right, So thequestion would be growing up in Mansfield going
to Lexington. Was there always aspirationsto go to law school, be a
judge where you're thinking other things growingup? And then how did you I
guess wind up where you are today? Can we have that story? Sure?
My father was a long time generalpractice attorney, Charles Robinson in Richland
(07:02):
County. In fact, he didn'teven retire till he was seventy nine years
old, so just recently did heretire. So I had a father who
was an attorney, had a grandfatherwho was an auctioneer and also was a
state rep for twelve years. Sogrowing up I didn't know exactly what I
wanted to do. I knew Iwas interested in law, but I didn't
(07:23):
know what I wanted to do.Just so happens that by far my best
subject in school was history. Sowhen I went to college, I thought
I didn't want to get good gradesbecause I do want to go on and
maybe go into some kind of schoolingafter college. What can I get good
grades in? Well? History?So I was a history major. Well,
when you're a history major, youdo kind of limit your options.
(07:43):
So I thought, well, Icould be a history teacher, a history
professor at a college, or Icould go to law school. So I
did decide to go to law school, following my father's footsteps. After law
school, I always had an interestin being a prosecutor, so I was
able to get a job at theRichland County Prosecutor's Office out of law school.
I started out part time. Idid the Prosecutor's office thirty hours a
(08:07):
week, and then I did somework with my dad in private practice.
After doing that for six years,I decided that I really enjoyed the prosecutors
side of it more so I wentfull time as a prosecutor and stayed there
up until the judge position opened whereJudge Henson's position opened. When he decided
he wanted to retire, he calledme on the phone and said get ready
(08:30):
and gave me about two weeks ofa headstart notice, so over anybody else.
So then it was a natural transition. Most of the judges in Richeland
County, whether it's common please judgesand there's five of us or municipal court
judges, most of those judges haveat one time or another worked in the
Richeland County Prosecutor's Office. So it'skind of a nice stepping stone to go
(08:52):
from one to the other, especiallyfor my job, where about seventy five
percent of my job is handling criminalcases. My criminal case load is great
than my civil case load, somost of my day is spent dealing with
criminal cases. Well, coming outof the Prosecutor's office, most of my
time at the Prosecutor's Office was dealingwith criminal cases, although they also do
civil matters. I also do civilmatters, but seventy five of the job
(09:16):
is more of the criminal cases.Well, it's great to learn all about
Judge Brent Robinson this week, CEO. You should know Ritzling County Common Police
Court judge in the General Division.I think he's a grandfather. Do you
ever try a auctioneering anything like that? No, yes, I would have
been fourth generation auctioneer if I haddone that, but I didn't go that
(09:37):
route. But I do still enjoyif I hear an auction it definitely catches
my ear. That's a scale.That's a scale. You have to go
to school for that, I mean, and you have to learn and get
a chant going. And it's aneat way to sell property quickly. So
yeah, my grandfather did auctioneering.My dad did auctioneering with my grandfather,
(09:58):
and then my grand father also wasa state rep for twelve years for Richland
County. So that's kind of myinterest in that area too, with law
and those kind of things. Oh, terrific to learn again about Judge Brent
Robinson this morning. Well, whilewe're on the topic of you, let's
find out a bit more married kids, could you tell us a little bit
(10:18):
about Brent Robinson in the family.Yep, married to my wife, Shannon.
Were married in nineteen ninety four.We dated from college on. We
met at Autterbine College. However,I did not want to get married until
I finished law school. I actuallygot married and found out my bar results
whether I passed the bar exam theday before my wedding. That was not
(10:41):
intended. That's just kind of howthat worked out, and it would have
been a real downer coming to thewedding had I found out that I did
not pass the bar. However,I did pass the bar exam, so
it was nice when I had introducedat the wedding. I was introduced as
attorney Brent Robinson and Shannon Robinson.So been married since nineteen ninety four to
(11:03):
my wife Shannon. We have twokids. Both of them go to Ohio
State. One is trying to getinto dental school at Ohio State. The
other one might be interested in lawschool. She doesn't quite know what she
wants to do. So that's thestatus of the family. All right.
Now, what do you do whenyou are not working? How about spare
(11:26):
time? Do you have any hobbies. I love to travel. I used
to joke and say, you know, if I couldn't travel, I really
wouldn't want to work because I dolove traveling. I do love hiking.
Skiing is a huge passion of myson and I. We try to take
a trip somewhere every year to goskiing out west somewhere and ski locally.
(11:48):
Those would be the three passions Ihave. Travel, skiing, and I
have gotten recently into hiking, soI've been doing all the hiking trails here
locally around the county. Also travelwilling to go hiking other places around the
state. Just really enjoy that gettingoutside, getting outside with nature. And
you told me you followed the localsports scene too, right, I do,
(12:11):
I do, I do follow localsports. I like to go to
all the high school football games ona Friday night. It's just trying to
figure out which one to go toand what's the best matchup. A group
of friends and I try to makesure that we make it to a game
every Friday night. And the mostimportant thing, where are we going to
eat before the game? Love itlove and nothing like Friday night under the
lights. Absolutely all right, Well, before I let you go, it's
(12:33):
been a great conversation this morning.We're talking with Judge Brent Robinson, this
week's CEO. You should know RichlandCounty Common Police Court Judge the General Division.
There are two things you brought upto me that we wanted to touch
on, and that was drug courtand reentry Court. So could you explain
(12:54):
those? And I know Richland Countyyou told me, is one of just
a few for one of those andone of the first for the others,
so it kind of interesting if youchase some of the details on those.
We'll start out with drug Court.Judge Henson, my predecessor, started the
first drug court, one of thefirst drug courts in Ohio in nineteen ninety
seven, and drug court is forlow level nonviolent offenders. Generally, it's
(13:16):
first time offenders who committed a crimebecause of their substance abuse, and drug
court works like this. You bringthe person into the court, you make
them go through a treatment program,you make them pay restitution if there's any
restitution ode. Generally the person isin the drug court for eighteen months,
sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, dependinghow they do. If they graduate successfully
from drug court, their case issealed, so their conviction is no longer
(13:41):
part of the public record. That'sthe benefit for the people, and a
lot of them are used type offenses. We don't put any dealers in drug
court. It would be someone who'susing drugs, using alcohol it caused them
to commit a crime. Low level, non violent, gives them an opportunity
to complete a program, get sober, get productive. When I'm working,
we want them doing well. Wework with them. It's it's collaborative in
(14:03):
that we bring probation officers and webring treatment folks in from the community to
work with these people, and ifthey successfully complete it, they won't have
a felony conviction on their record.That's drug court. We also do some
drug court with people who are onprobation who will have a felony record,
but they still need the treatment,so it's a treatment option to try to
get them sober and productive. Wealso have reentry Court Judge DeWeese who was
(14:28):
there before Judge Namoff. He actuallystarted the reinry court. The reentry court
is people who are coming out ofprison and it's designed to try to work
with those people for a year andensure they don't ever go back. So
the idea of reentry court is youcome out of prison, you go see
a judge, you see a hearingofficer from the Adult pro authority, work
with them for a year and hopefullydon't ever go back. Different kind of
(14:52):
individual drug court generally a young personwho has no real criminal history at all.
Reentry court, you're dealing with someonewho probably maybe has a long record,
maybe they've been to prison several times. That's a different kind of person,
a little bit tougher maybe to beginwith to work with. But when
we explain to him, hey,we're just here to try to prevent you
from ever going back to prison.Generally we have a common goal. We
(15:13):
work with them. If they successfullygraduate after a year, they get off
supervision. Hopefully I don't see themagain except out and about, but not
in the courtroom again hopefully. Andyou are telling me both of those courts,
the Drug Court and the reentry Courthave been going on for over twenty
years. I think you told meDrug Court was ninety seven, Drug Court
(15:35):
was nineteen ninety seven, reinter Courttwo thousand. Yeah, so they're both
certified by the Ohio Supreme Court.All right, Well, it's been a
good conversation this morning learning about everythingthat goes on with Judge Brent Robinson.
Multiple divisions. He of course isthe General Division Richland County Common Police Court
Judge Judge Robinson. Somebody may wonderthey hear you know, somebody being elected
(15:56):
mayor or they're own city council oris it two year? Four year?
How long is it in terms ofa term for a judge for you,
for Common Police Court judges six yearterms and we are nonpartisan at this time,
so it's a six year term.We can continue to be judge until
you turn seventy. Once you turnseventy, under Ohio law, you can
no longer run for judge. Youcan finish your term, but once you've
(16:18):
turned seventy years old, you canno longer run again. But a lot
of people didn't know that. Idid not know that. One other question
popped into my mind, and I'llask you real quick here. Being a
judge, just like I'm sure anythingelse. In terms of work, your
laws change and you have, youknow a lot of things. You guys
probably have to have conferences or differentthings, right to be up on the
(16:41):
latest laws and all those kind ofthings to do your job right. Yeah,
the Ohio legislature is constantly revising higherlaw all the time. As a
judge, I take on oath tofollow the law as it is, not
as I wish it might be,but as it is. I tell the
jury they have to do the samething. Jurors have to follow the laws
it is. Maybe they don't agreewith it. If you don't agree with
the law, then you contact yourlegislature and try to change it. But
(17:04):
because I have to follow the lawas it is, I have to stay
updated on the latest changes, andthe legislature is always changing the law.
So we do go to a lotof conferences and we try to figure out,
Okay, what's the latest law thatwas passed, and we want to
make sure we implement that, andthen generally, once we've figured that out,
(17:26):
they'll change it again. So wehave to go for more continuing education
to make sure that we're always applyingthe law as it is, and it's
always in flux. Legislature's meeting rightnow and there's several bills right now,
and I get a cheat sheet thatshows me these are the things that they're
thinking about changing, so we cancomment in advance. And every year there's
(17:48):
quite a few things that they're thinkingabout changing. But we have to stay
up to date. We have tomake sure we're following the law as soon
as it gets passed, when doesit go into effect, making sure that
we're following it as it is,all right, So a lot of things
you probably didn't know judges do.And that's why we're having a great conversation
this morning with Judge Brent Robinson.If somebody wants more information about the court,
(18:11):
is it just as easy to goto the county website to be able
to get phone numbers and those kindof things. We're on the county website.
We also have a number four onenine seven seven four five five seven
zero. That's our main number ifyou need questions or somebody we have staff.
I have fourteen employees that work withme. In the court itself,
we have probation officers. We havetwenty four probation officers too, it people,
(18:34):
and then we have nine court housesecurity employees. But anybody that has
questions or was wondering, we havea lot of questions about jury service.
We do a lot of jury trials. We have actually four bailiffs, but
I have two bailiffs specifically that dojury questions, work with juries, help
them. We call them jury commissioners, work with jurors. Any questions they
(18:55):
would have, they can call thatnumber or go on the website and then
they'll have numbers that they can callthe website Richland County, oh dot gov.
He gave the phone number and peopleprobably didn't know, you know,
how many people work in the courtand all those kind of things. So
it's been great to learn the storyabout Judge Brent Robinson. This week's CEO.
You should know again Richland County CommonPolice Court judge in the general division.
(19:18):
And I'm going to look forward toseeing you at a high school football
game, maybe multiple here coming upin the fall. It's been great to
learn your story. Thank you somuch. For coming in and we wish
you continued success. Thank you verymuch. Aaron Brent Robinson, Richland County
Common Police Court Judge, thus CEOyou should know rita bio. See a
photo and hear the extended interview atWMAANFM dot com. Leading means having a
(19:45):
vision and sharing it with others.I'm John Roby of RF and ME Insurance.
We're excited to bring you this programfeaturing CEOs from our area who will
share the thoughts of what it meansto work and live in north central Ohio.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.