New Probate-Juvenile judge sworn in

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Only the third Van Wert County Probate-Juvenile Court judge in more than a half-century was sworn in Monday in front of an overflowing courtroom filled with attorneys, friends and court staff.

Former assistant county prosecutor Kevin H. Taylor was given the oath of office by his predecessor, Judge Rex Fortney, who retired at the end of 2011 after 27 years on the Probate-Juvenile Court bench. Taylor’s wife, Kathy, held the Bible on which he placed his hand during the swearing-in ceremony.

“It’s very rewarding to see all of you here for this,” Taylor said. “It’s a short, but very important event in my life.”

He also complimented his predecessor, with whom he worked early in his career as an assistant county prosecutor under Don Johnson.

“It’s an opportunity for me to serve the county in a way that, hopefully, I can duplicate the services of Judge Fortney (over) 27 years,” the new judge noted. “I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working for him almost on a day-to-day basis for about nine of those years when I was an assistant prosecutor and certainly will have an excellent role model by which to measure my success.”

The new judge was appointed March 15 by Ohio Governor John Kasich to fill Judge Fortney’s unexpired term, which ends in February 2015. Taylor will have to run for the unexpired judicial term this November and then seek re-election in 2014, according to Van Wert County Republican Central Committee Chair Matin Burchfield.

The new judge  has been a practicing attorney since the late 1970s, when he became an assistant prosecutor under then-county prosecutor Don Johnson. In 1980, he and current Van Wert County Common Pleas Judge Charles D. Steele joined the law firm of attorneys Sumner E. Walters and Robert Young, now known as Young, Taylor & Yarger with the addition of Eva Yarger. He returned to the prosecutor’s office in 1989 under current Prosecutor Charles F. Kennedy III, working primarily with adult offenders.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in 1973 and his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. Taylor is a member of the Ohio and Van Wert County bar associations and was also previously an instructor for the Vantage Police Academy.

Both he and Yarger, who also has experience as an assistant prosecutor who has worked extensively in Juvenile Court, were candidates for Judge Fortney’s seat on the bench.

The new judge thanked those who attended for their support and reiterated his wishes to be a positive role model in his new position.

“I look forward to working with all of you in a very positive and forward moving way to serve this community on both the juvenile side and the probate side,” Taylor said.