(Editor’s note: This story was initially published March 9 in anticipation of the March 17 in-person primary election, which was extended until April 28 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be no additional in-person voting.
Any Richland County voters who have not already voted (through early voting prior to March 17) may request an absentee ballot application by calling (419) 774-5530 or by completing and printing an application at the Richland County Board of Elections website.
Applications must be received by noon on Saturday and ballots must be returned by April 28. If returning voted absentee ballot by mail, they must be postmarked by Monday. If dropping off a completed absentee ballot, must be received at the Board of Elections by April 28 at 7:30 p.m.)
MANSFIELD — The two Democratic candidates for Richland County Probate Court judge both have experience they said that makes them best suited for the job.
One has nearly 30 years of experience practicing probate law. The other has almost a decade of experience ruling in a courtroom.
Voters will choose either Joe Jerger or Kirsten Pscholka-Gartner to run against unopposed Republican candidate Kelly Baldnell in November.
Current Probate Court Judge Philip Alan B. Mayer is retiring at the end of this term because Ohio law prevents a common pleas judge from beginning a new term after age 70.
According to its website, Richland County Probate Court provides legal proceedings to determine a decedent’s assets, their value and the method of distribution to heirs as provided by law. This proceeding is called estate administration, and occurs whether the person dies with or without a will.
Other duties of the court include but are not limited to: trusts, civil commitments, adoptions, name changes, birth registrations/corrections and marriage licenses.
One of the more complex responsibilities of the probate court is guardianship. Probate court judges appoint legal guardians for children as well as adults who cannot properly care for themselves. Adults with guardians are often elderly individuals with dementia or adults of any age whose lives are impacted by mental illness or developmental disabilities.
When asked about what the public should consider when electing a new probate judge, Mayer said whomever gets elected to the seat should have solid law experience, an understanding of how to run a business, excellent work ethic, focus and good conflict-resolution and problem-solving skills.
“People get pretty intense sometimes when they don’t get what they want,” he said.
He added that whomever gets elected must be ready to tackle judicial duties as well as administrative ones.
As head of the court, Mayer oversees a part-time magistrate and six deputy clerks, some of whom serve as court investigators. He’s responsible for managing the staff, doing payroll and accounting, setting court filing fees and requesting the court’s yearly operating budget from the Richland County commissioners.
“Whoever it is, you better be ready to hit the ground running. You have to jump in with both feet,” he said.
Joe Jerger
Joe Jerger, 55, is a graduate of Ontario High School and Ohio Northern University. He has been a probate lawyer for 29 years. During that time, he has “run the gamut” of probate court, practicing in cases involving guardianship, estate administration, wrongful death actions, minor settlements, adoptions and name changes. He has also represented the Richland County Board of Mental Health and Richland County board of Developmental Disabilities during civil commitment hearings for the mentally ill.
“I decided to run for probate judge when I found out there really weren’t any candidates for the position that really had experience in that area of the law,” he said. “A judge should have experience in the court that he’s going to run for.”
Jerger currently serves as guardian for more than 90 adult wards in Richland County. If elected, he will have to relinquish guardianship of those wards. He has already started to transfer guardianships to Catholic Charities and Mid Ohio Guardianships.
“It’s very difficult because there’s not many persons that are willing to step up to the plate and be guardian for individuals,” he said.
If elected, Jerger said he hopes to create a public guardianship service board similar to the one in Franklin County.
Franklin County’s guardianship service board is publicly funded by various county agencies, including the probate court. The board is staffed by social workers and serves as the legal guardian to wards in Franklin County who have no one else willing or able to care for them.
Jerger also hopes to seek a grant that would allow the court to digitize its records and create a registry of adults under guardianship and contact information for their guardians that can be made available to first responders and medical professionals.
“Our first responders and hospitals do not have an easy way to get information on who has a guardian, who that guardian is and how to contact them,” Jerger said.
A registry would be helpful because individuals under guardianship cannot consent to medical treatment or admittance to a hospital. Some individuals under guardianship, such as those with dementia or severe mental illnesses, may not be able to communicate their unique needs or their guardian’s contact information to others.
Kirsten Pscholka-Gartner
Kirsten Pscholka-Gartner, 39, believes her experience as a magistrate makes her uniquely qualified to become Richland County’s next probate judge.
“I’m the only candidate with judicial experience and it is not easy to make the transition from practicing law to the bench. There are a lot of things you have to think about, there are a lot of restrictions placed on judges and magistrates,” she said.
Pscholka-Gartner started her legal career in 2004, as an assistant prosecuting Attorney in the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office. She primarily served as the appellate attorney, representing the State of Ohio in the Fifth District Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Ohio. She has handled cases in the Richland County Juvenile Court, and assisted the civil division with pending litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
In January 2011, she was appointed by Judge Heather Cockley to serve as a magistrate in the Richland County Domestic Relations Court. She currently serves as the court’s chief magistrate.
While she has not practiced probate law, she feels confident that her background in family court and legal research will equip her to serve on the bench.
“I’ve got an extensive legal research background and it’s very easy for me to just transition, pick up and learn new law,” she said. “I made the jump from criminal to domestic very easily.
“Domestic court is a family court, similar to what probate court does family law as well so some of the areas are somewhat similar.”
She has also begun taking legal education courses dealing with probate court issues.
The magistrate said she decided to run because she wants to continue helping area families.
“I really enjoy working with families, trying to come up with solutions to issues that they’re facing,” she said.
If elected, she would want to implement an electronic filing system for the probate court, a process she’s already begun in domestic relations court.
“It allows attorneys and pro se litigants to file paperwork with the court remotely. They wouldn’t have to come to the court,” she said. “I think it allows better access to the courts. It would streamlines the case flow through the court because paperwork immediately gets to the person that it needs to go to.”
Pscholka-Gartner noted that such a system would make things easy on caregivers, who might have to find alternative care in order to visit the courts during the day and file paperwork.
Another top priority would be examining the state of guardianship in the county.
“I would want to look at guardianship a little bit more closely and just make sure that the guardians are adequately meeting the needs of the wards,” she said. “I know the number of guardianships is very high and the need for new guardians is also an issue, so i’d look at ways to see if we could encourage people to become guardians.”
Pscholka-Gartner said that if elected, she would meet with local probate lawyers and get their input on issues they feel need addressed within the court.
Pscholka-Gartner is a graduate of Lexington High School and Capital University. She is admitted to practice law in the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and the State of Ohio.
She volunteered as a legal adviser for the Lexington High School Mock Trial program from 2005 to 2018. She is currently serving as a mock trial judge. In 2007, she was elected to serve as a member of Lexington Village Council for the remainder of a two-year unexpired term, which ended Dec. 31, 2009.
