Kim Melnick
Residence: Dayton
Organizations, boards, previous elected positions: I am a member of the American Bar Association, and the Ohio Bar Association and the Dayton Bar Association along with the Carl D. Kessler Inn of Court associated with the Dayton Bar Association. DBA Inn of Court is a monthly gathering of attorneys, judges, law professors and law students that discuss topics of professionalism, ethics and general educational topics.
I am also a member if the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court’s Security Committee and Information Technology Committee. The Security Committee discusses issues surrounding the security of the court and its affiliated departments, including public security issues as well as internal security measures. The Information Technology Committee is involved with continual technology updates to the court equipment and software programs used to run the entirety of the court.
Education: I attended Centerville High School, graduating in 1986. I then attended Wright State University obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Marketing in 1990, and went on to University of Dayton School of Law graduating with my Juris Doctorate in 1993.
Current employment: I am currently a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge in the General Division. I handle all types of felony criminal cases from aggravated murder to theft and drug offenses, civil cases with a monetary value of $15,000 or higher from medical malpractice to contract disputes, and appeals from administrative agency decisions.
In criminal cases, I preside over pre-trial motion hearings and issue decisions on evidentiary matters that must be determined before trial. I also preside over both trials to the court, where guilt or innocence is determined by the judge, and trials to a jury. After any guilty plea or verdict, I am then responsible for making all sentencing decisions, including conducting hearings on revocations from community control sanctions (probation).
In civil cases, I determine issues such as injunctive relief and protection orders. I issue decisions on pre-trial motions regarding evidentiary matters. I preside over both civil trials to the court and to a jury. I act as a court of review in administrative cases by reviewing decisions made by agencies and ensuring that laws and procedures were followed properly.
Why are you seeking elected office: I am a current judge seated in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, General Division and am seeking to retain this position. I was born and raised here and care deeply about serving this community. I have practiced law in Montgomery County for 24 years of my 29-year career. Prior to taking a seat on the bench, I served in the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office as a trial attorney for over 22 years.
As a prosecutor, I endeavored to make fair decisions on charges, transparent exchanges of information and evidence, and protect individuals’ rights while achieving justice for victims.
I have been a public servant of Montgomery County for 22 years. I was appointed by the Governor to continue this service. Our community needs judges that pursue fairness, justice and public safety. My position as a current judge allows me to continue my service in an important role with great responsibility that I have eagerly accepted and seek to maintain.
As a trial judge, my extensive trial experience is important. I have handled thousands of cases in my career, nearly two hundred have proceeded to trial. I understand the dynamics that are involved with motion hearings, jury trials and bench trials. I have an in-depth knowledge of the Rules of Evidence and Procedure and I understand the importance of the position I currently hold.
Why should voters elect you: As a trial judge, my extensive trial experience is important. I have handled thousands of cases in my career. My time was spent preparing and taking cases to trial for decades. I understand the dynamics that are involved with motion hearings, jury trials and bench trials. I have an in-depth knowledge of the Rules of Evidence and Procedure and I respect and understand the importance of the position I currently hold.
Being fair to all parties and protecting the rights of our citizens is of utmost importance to me. I consider all the court’s resources when sentencing defendants. I decide each case on the merits and based on the individual set of circumstances. Non-violent and first-time offenders are dealt with differently than repeat offenders and violent offenders. While rehabilitation is appropriate in many cases, public safety is always a concern that will be taken into account.
I have an conservative approach to interpreting the laws of Ohio and the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions. I believe in the separation of powers. Our legislature enacts news laws regularly. Those laws are tested in the trial courts. The court has an important duty to apply laws as they are written. A judge that changes the meaning of a law to his/her own meaning is acting outside the intended authority of the court and is speaking for the voters instead of the voters speaking for themselves.
Credit: Easterling Studios
Credit: Easterling Studios
If elected, what will be your top three priorities?
1. The top priority for any court should be making sure all citizens within the court system are treated fairly and equally.
2. It should also go without saying that the court should be making sure people are treated with respect and dignity.
3. Another priority is making sure the people have access to the court and that all cases are handled with expediency and without undue delay.
What specific plans do you have to address those top priorities? Each case must be decided on its own set of facts and circumstances. This must go hand in hand with treating similarly situated cases similarly. Race, gender, socio-economic background, for example, do not factor into the court’s decision. Consistency is a necessary function of our legal system in order to demonstrate fairness and equality. This includes ensuring that the other court departments that play a role in making recommendations are operating consistently as well.
In my experience as a prosecutor and as a judge, legal terminology and procedures can be difficult to understand. While the attorneys explain these things to their clients, it’s the court’s responsibility to ensure that understanding. The court must also ensure that jurors are properly instructed on the law. Respect and dignity calls for the court to ensure the understanding of all the people who come before it in a manner that is patient and is not insulting or belittling to people.
Access to the courts is a foundation of our legal system. This means access by those seeking redress and the public seeking transparency of the court. This access requires cases to be heard in a timely manner. Undue delay undermines these principles. As part of the IT Committee at the court, I am involved in updates to current technology that will assist the parties, the witnesses, the juries and the public in being able to observe the events happening in the court. This will also assist with ensuring fairness and respect.
Anything else you would like voters to know?
I have spent 26 years as a criminal prosecutor; over 22 of those years were in the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s office. During my tenure there, I have tried every kind of felony case including drugs, theft, rape, aggravated robbery cases to complex financial cases. I have supervised the Grand Jury/Intake Division, the Adult Protection Unit, and have been a Trial Supervisor. I mentored, trained and supervised other trial attorneys in the office. Prior to taking the bench I had been promoted to the Violent Crimes Bureau, which consists of a select group of attorneys who are responsible for all stages of trial preparation and presentation of cases involving someone’s death, including aggravated murder, murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter as well as vehicular homicides.
During my remaining years, I was a Deputy District Attorney in Jefferson County, Colorado doing criminal prosecution. Early in my career, I also spent time in private practice in the fields of criminal defense, domestic relations and probate before returning to my prosecutor role.
I was appointed to the bench by the Governor in March 2022 and have been serving Montgomery County in that capacity since that time. I am profoundly honored to have served Montgomery County in my role as Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and now as a Common Pleas Court Judge and am eager to continue serving our community in this role.
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Tony Schoen
Residence: Kettering
Organizations, boards, previous elected positions: I am an active member of my church, St. Albert the Great, where I have served on the Parish Council and on St. Albert the Great School’s Athletic Board. I coach youth athletics year round, including golf, basketball, and volleyball. I have been a member of the Ohio State Bar Association. I am a member of the Federal Bar. I am also a member of the Dayton Bar Association where I have previously acted as Chair of the Criminal Law Committee.
Education: Graduated with honors from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law; Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Ohio University with a double major in Finance and Business Law and a minor in Philosophy (Received Award as Top Business Law Graduate); Graduate of Archbishop Alter High School.
Current employment: Assistant Prosecuting Attorney at the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office – assigned to a criminal docket and Supervisor of the Consumer Fraud Division.
Why are you seeking elected office: I want a safe and thriving community for my family and all citizens of Montgomery County. My roots are deep here–from East Dayton, where my mom (Mary Ann Leibold Schoen) grew up, to Kettering, where my wife (Annie Beyer Schoen) and I grew up with our large families. After moving away for schooling and my initial work as an investment banker, my wife and I knew we wanted to return to Dayton to live and raise our children. I have been honored to serve the public the past eleven years as a county prosecutor and now feel I can best use my skills to continue to serve others as a judge. It is important to elect judges like me who are involved in the community, are committed to its improvement, and who possess experience in all the areas that come before the Common Pleas Court.
Why should voters elect you: I am the only candidate who can say I have defended a murder case, prosecuted a murder case, and worked extensively in complex civil litigation. Common Pleas Court Judges hear civil and criminal cases. I began my legal career doing complex civil litigation at Faruki, Ireland, and Cox. While in private practice, I focused on criminal defense. For the last eleven years I have worked for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, where I have served as Supervisor of Grand Jury, Care House attorney, Trial Supervisor, and Supervisor of the Consumer Fraud Division. This breadth of experience enables me to understand all cases, and the stresses of all practitioners and parties that appear before the Court.
Judges are servants of the community. As such, they should be involved in the community. My wife and I have been married twenty years. We are raising our two children here. We both are active in our Parish. I coach youth sports year-round. Being active in the community helps me feel the pulse of the community.
My experience and involvement make me the best candidate for this position.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities? If elected, my top priority will be to run a fair courtroom. All walks of life come through a courtroom: rich, poor, black, white, young, old, Democrat and Republican. A Judge must be fair to all, able to see the world not as black and white but to appreciate the gray and nuance. A courtroom is no place for politics, and a Judge should not be political. Rather, a Judge is a human sitting in judgment of other humans. Those judgments must be based on fact in conjunction with the law, devoid of any political notions.
My second priority would be to ensure the safety of the community. Certain crimes committed frustrate the community while others pose a danger to the community. We must work to find the best ways to treat those that are committing the crimes that are frustrations, while taking individuals that are dangerous to other citizens off of the streets.
Lastly, I want to work to improve efficiencies on both the criminal and civil dockets.
What specific plans do you have to address those top priorities? To run a fair courtroom I will continue being the person that I am: a person guided by the desire to do what is right and what is best for the community in which I live.
As to the second priority, we need to think about what it means to protect the community. Non-violent crimes typically do not carry long prison sentences. Imposing prison sentences for non-violent crimes does not make us safer. Many of these crimes are committed as a result of mental health or addiction issues. Treatment of these issues will make the community safer than a relatively short prison sentence followed by release absent any attempt to deal with the underlying issue. Treatment providers should be assessed to see if they are effective. Mentorship programs should be utilized for those on felony probation. All of those being monitored who are capable should be ordered to obtain education and work. For those committing violent crimes, prison sentences need to be imposed to protect the community.
To improve efficiency, I intend to have an open-door policy. I want to listen to the ideas of the practitioners who appear before the court on how the court can better serve them and their clients. I intend to have more frequent conference calls on cases to make sure all deadlines will be met, and all parties are on the same page as to the direction of the case.
Anything else you would like voters to know?
I love this community. It is my dream to serve others as a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge. If elected, I will work tirelessly to serve the interests of the citizens of Montgomery County. Some of my endorsements include State Representative Willis Blackshear, Jr.; County Prosecutor Mat Heck, Jr.; Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims, Jr.; Kettering Mayor Peggy Lehner; County Recorder Brandon McClain; County Commissioners Debbie Lieberman, Judy Dodge and Carolyn Rice; Clayton Councilpersons Tim Gorman and Dennis Leiberman; Retired Judge Barbara Gorman; Dayton Clerk of Courts Marty Gehres; Attorney Michael Wright.