Judge Steele announces retirement

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County Common Pleas Judge Charles D. Steele announced Tuesday his decision to retire, effective January 1, 2015.

Judge Steele, a Van Wert native, was appointed to the bench in 1999 by then-Governor Robert Taft to fill a vacancy created when Judge Sumner E. Walters was elected to the Third Ohio District Court of Appeals. He was elected to a new six-year term in 2006 and re-elected in 2012.

Governor John Kasich will be appoint a replacement for Judge Steele from a list of qualified attorneys submitted to the governor by the Van Wert County Republican Central Committee.

Judge Steele was a 1966 graduate of Van Wert High School and served in the United States Marine Corps from 1966-1969, including a 13-month tour in Vietnam. He also served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1984-2004 and was mobilized for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. His military awards include the Purple Heart, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and Army Commendation Medal.

He attended East Carolina University and later earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in American history from St. Francis College in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Prior to earning his law degree from Ohio Northern University, Judge Steele was a teacher and coach at Parkway Local Schools and Van Wert City Schools.

After earning his juris doctor degree, Judge Steele was a practicing attorney who later became a partner in the law firm of Young, Taylor & Steele. He also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the 1980s and 1990s.

Judge Steele is a member of the Ohio and Van Wert County bar associations, Elks Lodge 1197, American Legion Post 178 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5803, and First United Methodist Church, all in Van Wert.

During his 15-year tenure as Common Pleas judge, Steele has established the court’s Special Project Fund, from which money was drawn for the courtroom renovation project that included refurbishing the dome over the courtroom.

The fund also pays for a mediation program, helps fund the court’s domestic relations magistrate, technology upgrades, and pays court employees’ travel and education expenses.

Judge Steele is currently involved in the process of developing an intensive drug treatment program that would encompass all three Van Wert courts.