FREMONT, Ohio — The Supreme Court of Ohio has suspended Sandusky County Common Pleas Court Judge Jon Ickes for two years and removed him from judicial office immediately and without pay for the duration of the suspension, according to the Toledo Legal News’ report of the Court’s decision.
The Court found that Ickes presided over two cases in which he had what the decision called a “glaring conflict of interest” and that he cultivated an unprofessional workplace environment, the Toledo Legal News reported. Ickes was appointed to the court’s general and domestic relations division in 2020 and was elected to a full six-year term beginning in January 2021.
Writing for the Court majority, Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy stated that the purpose of judicial discipline is to protect the public, guarantee the evenhanded administration of justice, and maintain and enhance public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary, according to the Toledo Legal News. Ickes’s refusal to disqualify himself when his impartiality might reasonably have been questioned “caused incalculable harm to the public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary,” Chief Justice Kennedy wrote, in the passage quoted by the Toledo Legal News.
The Board of Professional Conduct had found that Ickes committed 10 of the 17 judicial rule violations charged and recommended a one-year suspension, fully stayed on the condition that he commit no further misconduct, the Toledo Legal News reported. The Supreme Court determined that a more severe sanction was necessary.
Justices Patrick F. Fischer, Daniel R. Hawkins and Megan E. Shanahan joined Chief Justice Kennedy’s opinion, and Fourth District Court of Appeals Judge Michael D. Hess, sitting for Justice Jennifer Brunner, also joined the majority, according to the Toledo Legal News.
For Sandusky County, the ruling means the common pleas bench in Fremont must now cover the general and domestic relations docket without its elected judge. Cases that were pending before Judge Ickes will need reassignment, and litigants with matters in the division should watch for notices from the court about new hearing dates and assignments.
What happens next is the administration of the vacancy: the suspension removes Ickes from office immediately, and the county’s court operations continue under reassigned judges while the two-year suspension runs. No further court action by Judge Ickes is permitted during that period under the order reported by the Toledo Legal News.
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