New Middletown judge to take oath of office Friday

Melynda Cook Howard will take the oath of office Friday afternoon to be the next Middletown Municipal Court judge.

The swearing-in ceremony is set for 4:30 p.m. in the Middletown City Council chambers at One Donham Plaza.

She succeeds the late Middletown Municipal Judge Mark Wall, who died in February.

RELATED: Melynda Cook Howard appointed to Middletown judge seat

Cook Howard’s time on the bench will only be until November, unless she wins election. She is one of five people seeking election in November’s general election to fill the remaining two years on Wall’s unexpired term.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s office made the appointment some 3½ months after Wall’s death. In that time, the Ohio Supreme Court had assigned three retired judges to hear cases until an appointment was made.

Others expected to be on the November ballot in the non-partisan race are local attorneys Beth Yauch Joseph, Terri King, Jeff Milbauer and James Sherron. All have been certified for the November election.

Sherron was actually the recommended pick for the appointment by the Middletown area contingent of the Butler County Republican Party’s Central Committee, though only 30 people voted in that recommendation.

RELATED: 5 plan to run for Middletown judge’s seat

Cook Howard will take the bench on June 19, a special day she said because it is also the birthday of her late mother, Lorena, who died in 2004.

The swearing-in comes just a few months after Cook Howard's husband, Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Greg Howard, took the oath of office to fill the seat of the late common pleas judge, Craig Hedric, who died in November 2016. They will be the first husband-and-wife judicial couple in the county, Cook Howard said.

About the Author