Process of replacing Judge Cronin to begin

YOUNGSTOWN — The process of selecting Judge Maureen A. Cronin’s replacement won’t be quick, the governor’s office says.

The new judge probably won’t be named before Judge Cronin retires on July 1, said Allison Kolodziej, deputy press secretary for Gov. Ted Strickland, who will appoint the replacement judge.

After 13 years on the bench, Judge Cronin, 53, of Canfield Road, recently announced her retirement as a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge. She was elected   as the county’s first female common pleas judge in 1994 and ran unopposed for re-election in 2000 and 2006.

The process of choosing her replacement will begin with selection by the governor in the next few weeks of six members of the Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendation Panel from Mahoning County.

Under a process the new governor announced in January, those six local members will join five at-large members, who have already been appointed to the panel for renewable two-year terms, to form an 11-member committee.

For complete story, see Tuesday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.