To Members of the Geauga County Republican Party: As many of you already know, the tragic passing of Judge and

loyal Republican Chip Henry has left an open seat in the local judiciary and the Geauga County Republican Party has been asked by Governor Kasich to submit a list of three possible candidates for his consideration as part of his selection process to fill the vacancy of Judge Probate/Juvenile Division of Common Pleas Court. We are happy that as a party we have been asked for our input, however, we also understand that the formal process for replacement is the responsibility of the Governor and he may choose any candidate he wants regardless of our recommendation. There have been some questions and general inquiries as to the procedure the local party is going to use in determining which names they will submit as suggestions. It is the purpose of this communication to both update and inform the party as to the status of this process. The only delay in submitting this report was the fact that there was simply not enough information to report. As many of you already know, there is no formal process in place to govern the recommendation of individuals to fill a judicial vacancy. The request for a list of candidates was made from the Governor to the Chair of the Geauga Republican Party, Ed Ryder. Every governor has their own method of selecting a judge for appointment. One may want several names, one may only want one name, or one may not want any recommendations. Chairman Ryder then chose Vice-Chair Blake Rear to head a committee responsible for selecting the candidates to submit to the Governor for his consideration in the following email distributed to party members: As you know the Governor will appoint someone to be the new Judge of the Probate/Juvenile Division of the Common Pleas Court. The Governor will seek input from the Geauga GOP, and Blake Rear, the Vice Chairman of the Geauga GOP will be in charge of a committee who will make recommendations to the Governor. At the same time, Mr. Ryder asked David Joyce, Geauga County Prosecutor, to serve on this committee as co-chair and to offer his extensive legal expertise to the committee. It was at this point that the following list of tasks was chosen by the committee: First, post a notice on the Geauga County Republication website and Chardon Bar Association website inviting individuals who whish to be considered for recommendation by the committee to submit their rsum, populate the committee with qualified individuals who are capable of assessing the merits of potential candidates to serve in the position of judge, create an instrument for the purpose of evaluating those individuals, circulate that instrument and interview potential candidates, and finally submit recommendations to the duly elected officers (excluding the Chairman) of the Geauga County Republican Party for the final selection.

The first three of those objectives have been accomplished. The following announcement was posted on the Geauga County Republican Party web site (geaugagop.com) and a similar announcement on the Geauga County Bar Association web site: The Geauga County Republican Party is seeking qualified applicants interested in being appointed to the Probate/Juvenile Court Bench, vacated with the sudden passing of Judge Chip Henry May 23. A committee will review the applications and make recommendations to Governor John Kasich, who will make the appointment as provided under Ohio law. Applicants should send a letter and resume to the Geauga County Republican Party, P.O.BOX 536, Chardon, OH 44024. Applications must be received by 4:30 p.m. June 15. Second, owing to their legal expertise, the following additional screening committee members have been chosen: Joe Weiss, former Geauga Bar Association president, Carolyn Paschke, secretary Geauga Bar Association and private practicing attorney, and John Karlovec, lawyer and editor of the Geauga Maple Leaf newspaper. Finally, per the advice of Ohio Chief Justice OConnor, we consulted a document prepared by Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association - Judicial Qualification Committee Confidential Judicial Candidate Questionnaire. Mr. Joyce contacted Mike Unger of that association who sent the rather extensive questionnaire designed to screen judicial candidates. Mr. Joyce also contacted the Ohio State Bar Association to obtain their input. Members of the screening committee, using the information provided by Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and Ohio State Bar Association along with their knowledge of Geauga County, developed The Geauga County Judicial Candidate Questionnaire. It is hoped that this questionnaire will become a working document for future appointments. I hope that this letter has cleared up any confusion as to what procedures are in place or what actions are being taken by the Geauga County Republican Party pursuant to the task of submitting names to the Governor. Blake Rear