During his term, McNamee plans to implement a drug court in Xenia, similar to the drug court already established in Fairborn. Up to 80% of criminal cases in Xenia involve drugs or alcohol in some way, McNamee said.
“The Supreme Court has a lot of alternative dockets that they provide support centering around addiction, mental health, so those are the type of things that I’m going to be looking towards,” he said.
McNamee added that he also plans to use his role as judge to address homelessness in Xenia.
The Xenia Municipal Court seat was formerly held by Judge Ron Lewis, who was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeals by Gov. Mike DeWine in December. McNamee must run for election in 2023 in order to complete the unexpired term ending December 31, 2025.
McNamee worked in private practice for nearly 23 years before he began working for the Greene County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, as a magistrate in 2016. Most recently, McNamee worked as magistrate and court administrator at the Greene County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations.
McNamee received his law degree from the University of Dayton’s School of Law, and earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame.
Xenia Municipal Court has jurisdiction for the cities of Xenia and Bellbrook, the villages of Yellow Springs, Cedarville, Spring Valley and Bowersville, and 10 Greene County townships.
The court has jurisdiction over violations of any city or village ordinance in its territory, any misdemeanor violations of state law in that region, and conducts initial hearings on felony charges prior to indictment. The court also has a civil division for cases valued up to $15,000, landlord/tenant cases, and small claims cases valued up to $6,000.
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