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WARREN -- As Judge Sandra Harwood is set to retire from the Trumbull County Family Court, two Democratic candidates are looking to earn the party's nomination in the March 19 primary election to vie for a chance to fill the seat.
Family Court Magistrates Kara Leonard Stanford and Jack Pico will run against each other in the primary. The winner will face attorney David Engler, who is running unopposed in the Republican primary, in the November general election. The term starts Jan. 1, 2025.
LEONARD STANFORD
Leonard Stanford said she believes her passion for helping children, families and survivors of abuse makes her stand out as a great candidate.
"I think that the areas that I would really focus on address all of those individually," Leonard Stanford said.
Leonard Stanford said she also plans to utilize grants that are in place for greater outreach, along with providing more support for survivors of abuse through intervention programs and having more trauma-informed training for the court staff.
"When survivors are seeking the assistance of the court, they could have a better experience with trauma-informed people to connect with, outside of judicial officers having such training," she said.
She added, "Something else that is really important for us to expand, is to strengthen our relationships with community partners. That's one of the things that our court really prides itself on, the amount of partnerships that we have with different service providers and agencies in the community."
As the court is "almost a central point" of connections to be made, Leonard Stanford said, "there is a lot more work that can be done there."
Maximizing resources, instead of duplicating them, is a point of emphasis for Leonard Stanford.
She said she also has been in communication with a supervisor at OhioMeansJobs to develop a program under its comprehensive case management and employment program to help serve youth 14 to 24 years old with job training and career coaching.
Leonard Stanford has served as Niles Municipal Court acting judge and acting prosecutor from 2013 to 2017; Niles Mirror and Glass Inc. general counsel from 2007 to 2017; and she was also Irenttown.com's legal consultant in 2008.
She received her law degree from Case Western Reserve University Franklin Thomas School of Law in 2006. A 1999 graduate of Niles McKinley High School, she also received her master's degree in business administration with a focus in marketing concentration from Weatherhead School of Management in 2006.
Leonard Stanford, who was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 2006, said she would like to shift focus to the court being more proactive, rather than reactive.
"What the public can expect from me is empathy, compassion and fairness," Leonard Stanford said. "My vision of the court is a place where children are protected, families are heard and justice also prevails. I want to expand the impact that I have currently as a magistrate and be able to do good things for the people of Trumbull County."
She also has been admitted to practice in the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio and serves as the Trumbull County Bar Association's president-elect.
PICO
As a magistrate at family court, Pico said he wants the domestic judge seat because it would be a seamless transition as Harwoord retires.
"I want to continue to help families," Pico said. "It's just kind of what I've been doing for my whole career and I want to continue to do it."
A 1976 graduate of Jackson-Milton High School, Pico obtained his bachelor's degree in psychology at Wooster College in 1980. He earned his law degree from Akron University School of Law in 1988.
"It's just important to me with being a father, and having gone through a custody battle as a child," Pico added. "Sitting in open court as a 14-year-old, staring my parents down and telling the judge which one of them I wanted to live with. I kind of have an idea of what kids go through in the courtroom as I make these decisions myself now."
Pico said the similarities between the roles of magistrate and judge could benefit his transition. "In the world that we're in, a magistrate is appointed and a judge is elected, but we're essentially doing the same things," Pico said. "There are certain key differences between what they can and can't do, but when it's all said and done, you decide cases and you try to help people. So, I just want to continue to do that at a different level."
About the concept of judging in domestic court, "You want to be as fair as you can be in an area where everybody loses, if you really look at it," Pico said. "In a custody battle, even the person who gets custody sees their child less than they would see them in an intact family."
Pico said he would like to focus on easing court costs for families and delving more into mental health issues that trouble those who find themselves in court. Further, Pico said the modernization of the court's E-Docket system is part of his focus.
"In my 36 years of doing this, the person paying support feels they're paying too much, while the person receiving feels they're getting too little," Pico said. "So you try to help people through that process and try to help them save their financial and emotional resources."
The bottom line, Pico said, "whether I do or don't become a judge, I feel I've had a successful career because I have the respect of my peers, and the people in the building. But I would like to take it to the next level."
Pico was a law partner with Betras, Maruca, Kopp, family law chief from 2007 to 2016. He also served as a full-time magistrate for Trumbull County Family Court from 1997 to 2007.
The candidates
Kara Leonard
Stanford
Age: 42
3 goals or priorities: Strengthening community partnerships, ensuring access to justice and implementing impactful components under existing grant projects
Previous elected office: None
Jack Pico
Age: 66
3 goals or priorities: Making court more affordable, ensuring victim protection, modernizing court filing
Previous elected office: None