The two are competing for a job on the Montgomery County Common Pleas bench. Judges in that court oversee felony criminal cases and trials along with high-level civil cases that are seeking more than $15,000.
Ohio Common Pleas judges make an annual salary of $155,000, according to the Ohio Supreme Court.
The winner of the election in November will be back on the ballot in 2024.
Kim Melnick
Credit: Easterling Studios
Credit: Easterling Studios
Melnick was an assistant prosecuting attorney in Montgomery County for 22 years before being appointed to the bench by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine earlier this year.
During her time with the prosecutor’s office, she tried criminal cases and said she felt the courts are too lenient.
“I’ve heard from defendants, many of them over the years, that they will come into this county to commit crimes because they know they will not be sentenced as harshly as they might in other counties,” she said. “And being born and raised in Montgomery County, that was troublesome to me. And so with the amount of experience that I have in the courtroom, I felt like I would do a service to the county by becoming a judge.”
Melnick said she believes in accountability and that there should be consequences for violent and repeat offenders.
“I understand completely if someone is a first-time offender and they come in and they’ve made mistakes and they want to atone for those mistakes,” Melnick said, “Those people should absolutely be given the opportunity to do that. However when someone continues to come back over and over again, it’s no longer a mistake and they need to have consequences to deter their behavior and to deter others’ behavior in a similar fashion.”
She said local law enforcement does a good job at keeping the community safe, and that each defendant should be dealt with individually.
“I prided myself on being fair in charging people and trying cases in a fair manner, being transparent and upfront and treating people with respect, and as a judge, I am doing the same,” Melnick said. “I believe every person who comes in my court deserves to be treated with respect, deserves to be treated fairly.”
Tony Schoen
Schoen is an assistant prosecuting attorney who is assigned to a criminal docket and consumer fraud division. He said he has both defended and prosecuted homicide cases, so he has a unique perspective on how a courtroom should be run.
“My philosophy would be to treat everybody fairly who is coming in front of my court, and I think the experience that I have enables me to do that,” he said.
He said he decided to run for judge because he wants a safe and thriving community for his family and all residents of Montgomery County. Schoen said the county has great police agencies and the prosecutor’s office does a good job too. He said there does need to be an evaluation of what it means to best protect the community.
He said there’s a lot of nonviolent crime that shouldn’t be viewed the same as violent criminals that endanger people.
“(We need to) try to get them support services, whether it’s mental health, whether it’s drug treatment, whether it’s getting them a mentor, encouraging them to get a GED, requiring them to get a job,” Schoen said. “Allow those people to try to better themselves because that will make the community safer.”
“Now, as to ... people committing crimes that are a danger to the citizens of the community, you do have to take those people off the street for the betterment of the community so people can feel safe,” he said.
Schoen said he supports the specialized dockets that aim to rehabilitate people when possible. He said he is active in the community and he is comfortable with speaking to voters about what he believes and encourages people to reach out to him.
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