MANSFIELD — Richland County Juvenile Court will remain under the helm of Republican Judge Steve McKinley.
McKinley defeated Democrat Roeliff “Rollie” Harper by more than 17,000 votes, according to final, unofficial vote totals from the Richland County Board of Elections. McKinley earned 34,594 votes to Harper’s 16,984 votes.
According to Paulette Hankins, director of the Richland County Board of Elections, there is an unofficial total of 1,506 Provisionals from the polls as well as early voting. These will be checked by BOE staff and then reviewed by the board at a meeting on Monday, Nov. 16.
There is also a total of 995 outstanding absentees which, if postmarked by Nov. 2 and received in the BOE office by Nov. 13, would be approved to be opened and counted at the board meeting on Nov. 16.
The official count will be conducted on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and the board will reconvene on Wednesday, Nov. 18 to certify the official results.
“I just thank the voters of Richland County for their support of me, and I’m very excited to continue to serve the youth of our county and help be part of creating a brighter future for our families,” McKinley said. “It’s very exciting to have that opportunity, and an honor to be chosen by the people of Richland County.”
In his first time running for an elected position, McKinley described his mood as “very tense” on election night.
“It’s definitely a new feeling to go through an election,” he said.
McKinley, from Bellville, was appointed to the bench by Gov. Mike DeWine in March 2019 to fill the unexpired term of Judge Ron Spon, who retired after 26 years on the bench.
Prior to his appointment, McKinley served as a Richland County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court Magistrate for more than 20 years. He served as Judge Heather Cockley’s chief magistrate since 2011 in Domestic Relations Court, and was appointed magistrate by Spon in 1998.
With his election on Tuesday, McKinley will serve a two-year term to complete Judge Ron Spon’s six-year term. McKinley said he will run again in two years for a six-year term.
In his next two years, McKinley said he hopes to establish a mentoring program in Richland County, involving a number of community partners.
“I want youth to succeed, and I envision being an active part in the community in helping youth, even outside the walls of juvenile court,” he said.
McKinley told Richland Source in October he is proud of his first case as juvenile court judge because two significant responsibilities were achieved: protecting the community, and protecting the youth’s rights.
“There was a particular circumstance where it was difficult to get a witness there who was really crucial to understanding the facts of the case, and I took extra efforts to make sure that witness was present because I wanted that youth to have the best possible trial, all the protections that we should be entitled to under the Constitution,” McKinley said.
“I’m proud of the fact that I took extra efforts to make sure that youth had the witness there so that I could carefully discern what the facts were, and then apply the law to the facts.”
McKinley added he considers the gravity of an offense before exercising judgment, as well as the presence or absence of remorse with the youth offender.
“I know the community is in greater need of protection if there’s an absence of remorse. And I know that the child is less likely to commit an offense in the future if the child is remorseful about what they’ve done – not just remorseful about being caught, but remorseful about their action,” McKinley said.
“I hope to develop a youth’s conscience, because I understand law enforcement will not always be around or a parent may not always be around to prevent a youth from doing what’s wrong, but if the youth is encouraged to develop a sense of right and wrong, then I believe they’re more likely to be law-abiding and restrain themselves from doing the wrong thing.”
With the election now over, McKinley said he looks forward to proceeding in the way Abraham Lincoln expressed at the time of his second election: “That we would proceed as friends, and not adversaries, working together for the wellbeing of the youth in our community.”
