Search to begin to replace judge

Republicans formed a committee to screen a retiring judge's replacement.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NEWTON FALLS -- When Judge Thomas L. Old retires from the Newton Falls Municipal Court bench Sept. 1, he'll miss his friends but not the weather.
Judge Old, who turns 60 in August, and his wife, Corky, will be moving to Top Sail, N.C., where they have vacationed for the past 20 years and recently bought a house.
Judge Old, a Democrat, will be replaced by an appointee of Republican Gov. Bob Taft's.
His replacement, however, will be on the bench for a short time -- September to the November general election, when his successor is elected.
Craig Bonar, Trumbull County Republican Party chairman, said he selected a search committee Monday to screen applicants. The committee will submit three names to the governor.
Judge Old said Tuesday that Atty. Philip M. Vigorito of Lordstown, a Democrat who has served as acting judge in the Newton Falls court, will run for Judge Old's unexpired term.
The judge has sat on the bench here since 1988. He is in the first year of a four-year term.
Area covered
Whoever takes over must live in the court's jurisdiction that is quite large at 225 square miles. It covers Lordstown and Newton Falls along with Newton, Braceville, Southington, Bristol, Farmington, Bloomfield and Mesopotamia townships.
Atty. Larry Turner, a Republican who has moved from Warren to Lordstown, has submitted an application to the GOP seeking the appointment, Bonar said.
The county chairman said he hopes to have the three nominees, one of whom must be a minority, selected by the end of June.
In addition to the large judicial district, the judge pointed out the entire length of the Ohio Turnpike in Trumbull County runs through the judicial district. This also increases the court's caseload.
Judge Old's background
Judge Old graduated from Mount Union College in 1968 before joining the Army and serving with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam for 14 months.
Once discharged, he attended the University of Cincinnati School of Law, where he received his law degree in 1973, the same year he was admitted to the bar.
He was in private practice and a referee in Warren Municipal Court before seeking the Newton Falls judgeship.
The decision to retire came quickly, Judge Old explained, noting the house he and his wife wanted to eventually buy went on the market.
"We wanted to be young enough to enjoy it," the judge said of Top Sail. "We've really come to love the place."
The judge said he and his wife aren't fully retiring. He will practice law with a friend and do some arbitration and mediation work; his wife will work for friends that have a jewelry making company.
Although near the Atlantic Ocean, Judge Old doesn't own a boat -- but noted that a friend owns one.
"I have the best and loyal friends you could hope to have. They're more like a family," the judge said of his staff.
He admits he'll miss them and his friends here, "but not the Ohio weather."
yovich@vindy.com