MANSFIELD — Richland County Prosecutor Gary Bishop, whose legal career spans more than 35 years, is stepping down for “personal health concerns,” effective April 10.
Bishop was elected prosecutor in 2016 and ran unopposed for re-election in 2020. He made his announcement with a one-sentence letter sent to county commissioners and leaders of the county’s Republican Party.
Bishop said in November he had been diagnosed with cancer about a month before the murder trial of John Mack Jr., an effort that resulted in a conviction.
“My prognosis is good. I’m not trying to make this about me,” Bishop said during a press conference after Mack’s sentencing.
The Richland County Republican Party central committee has five to 45 days to fill the position after the resignation takes effect, according to Matt Finfgeld, the local board of elections director.
“The prosecutor (office) will be on the ballot in 2024, for a new term starting January 2025,” Finfgeld said.
Bishop, a Republican, was elected prosecutor in 2016, earning almost 56 percent of the vote to defeat Democrat Bambi Couch-Page.
Couch-Page had had been appointed by the local Democratic Party to replace former Prosecutor James Mayer Jr. after his suicide in 2014.
Bishop graduated from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor of science degree in political science in 1982. He earned his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1986.
He began working as an assistant Wood County prosecutor from 1987 to 2005, the last 12 years as the office’s chief assistant.
As chief assistant, he oversaw the criminal, juvenile and appellate divisions of the office and secured convictions in more than 100 felony jury trials.
Bishop joined the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office in 2005. He successfully prosecuted more than 70 felony jury trials and was promoted to chief criminal trial attorney by Mayer.
In 2015, Bishop began working as a criminal trial attorney for Ashland County Prosecutor Attorney Christopher Tunnell and was soon promoted to First Assistant Prosecutor.
In 2015, Bishop successfully prosecuted 16 felony jury trials, including a number of domestic violence cases, as well as cases involving the manufacture of methamphetamine and gross sexual imposition of an 8-year-old child.
He obtained convictions in 23 out of 25 cases during the 18 months he served in Ashland County.
While working in Ashland County, Bishop campaigned for the Richland County prosecutor’s office, defeating Couch-Page and taking office in January 2017.
During his tenure, Bishop focused on putting victims’ rights first; improving the working relationship his office has with law enforcement; improving the response to the opioid crisis; crimes again women and children; and exploitation of the elderly, in particular.
Bishop has been honored for outstanding achievement and meritorious service to Victims of Crime by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Victims Services Division of the Ohio Court of Claims.
He has also been honored for his prosecution of drunk drivers by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for his work in a number of vehicular homicide cases.
Bishop has prosecuted death penalty cases, advocated before the Ohio Adult Parole Board and gained the respect of numerous law enforcement agencies throughout northwest and north central Ohio.
Bishop has served as a guest lecturer at the National Trial Advocacy Center in Columbia, S.C., on a number of occasions, teaching advanced trial advocacy to prosecutors from around the United States.
For the past 16 years, he has worked as a consultant for the Court Section at the annual American Legion Buckeye Boys State.
A former delegate to Buckeye Boys State, Bishop has said he is dedicated to the task of teaching young men from across the state about the country’s representative form of government, court system and citizenship.
In his spare time, Bishop has enjoyed attending car shows and restoring his first car, a 1967 Ford Mustang GT Fastback he bought when he was 16.
Bishop has two children, Ethan and Janelle, two grandsons and one granddaughter.
