Quatman retires as CP Court magistrate

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Magistrate Joe Quatman spent his last day in that position Friday chatting with friends, family members, and court staff during a reception in the courtroom. Quatman, who has a total of 40 years in the legal profession, has spent the last 19 years as court magistrate.

Quatman, a Lima Shawnee High School graduate who earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova University and his law degree from Ohio Northern University, began his legal career in a private practice in Allen County after graduation, partnering with his father, Joseph B. Quatman, who later became Allen County Probate-Juvenile Court judge and a Third Ohio District Court of Appeals judge.

Quatman later spent 16 years as an assistant county attorney for the Allen County Children’s Services agency handling civil, neglect, and abuse cases.

Then he received a phone call that eventually brought him to Van Wert County.

“(The) phone rang one day and it was (then-Van Wert County Common Pleas) Judge (Charles) Steele, who I had never met before,” Quatman noted. “Said he was looking for a temporary to fill in for Pat Young, who had been elected in Paulding County.”

Although most people thought at the time that Young would be able to continue as magistrate here and be a judge in Paulding County, Quatman said the Ohio Attorney General’s Office later decided that there was a conflict of interest in filling both positions.

“Everybody thought there was no conflict, three months go by, the attorney-general says there was a conflict, Judge Steele asked me to stay on,” the retiring magistrate said, noting that was 19 years ago.

As magistrate, Quatman handled domestic relations (DR) cases: divorces, dissolutions of marriage, custody issues.

“DR work is a trying, emotional, heartstring-tugging position to be in, especially when children are involved,” Quatman said, adding that, if he has left any legacy either here or in Allen County, it was that he tried to inject some humanity into his work while also maintaining the requirements of the law.

“I’d like to think I met those requirements and did a little good here in Van Wert County,” he added.

While Quatman said it has been a pleasure working in Van Wert County — “it’s become my second home” — he also said he won’t miss those winter commutes from Lima to Van Wert.

Quatman said he will also miss the people he worked with here, but added he plans to drop by on a regular basis. Other than that, he said he does plan to retire, at least for a while, and spend more time with his family, which includes three children and six grandchildren.

Meanwhile, Quatman is leaving the county in good hands with new Common Pleas Court Magistrate Christina Steffan, with whom he has been working the past few months to ensure a smooth transition.

Steffan, an Ottoville native, is a graduate of the University of Toledo Law School. Prior to taking the Van Wert magistrate’s position, she worked in Delphos as an attorney and assistant prosecutor before becoming a magistrate for Allen County Juvenile Court.