Judge McGookey to retire

SANDUSKY — Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Beverly McGookey, 70, whose duties include probate court, will retire in 2026 instead of seeking re-election. It's not a voluntary retirement. State law mandates that judges must retire if they have turned 70 before their next election. Judges are sworn in early the next year after an election year, so McGookey's retirement will become effective on Feb. 8, 2027. "It's basically a forced retirement," McGookey said. Tom Dusza, McGookey's magistrate, confirmed he plans to run next year to replace McGookey. Dusza has been McGookey's magistrate and court administrator for more than four years. He has also been in private practice and worked as an administrative hearing officer for Erie County child support. Here are a few prominent people, older than McGookey, in current or former government jobs: • President Donald Trump is 79. • The previous president, Joe Biden, was 82 when he left office. • Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine, is 78. • Sherrod Brown, 72, Ohio's best-known Democrat, may run for office again next year and is said to be considering another run for Senate or a bid to become governor. McGookey mentions such people because she is unhappy about being forced out of a job she loves. In Ohio, she explained, judges are the only elected position which have a mandatory age limit. "A lot of us feel that is pretty unfair," she said. "It's kind of a sore subject with me." McGookey added that she did not feel mentally old and said: "I don't want to leave my job. I love my job." She serves as the probate judge, handling the legal chores when a person dies and the provisions of a will are carried out. McGookey's other duties include handling marriage licenses and adoptions, and she divides up criminal cases with two common pleas judges: Roger Binette and Tygh Tone. The fourth judge at the courthouse, Robert DeLamatre, handles juvenile court matters. Judge's background McGookey was first elected to her post in 1996 and, since then, has not had an opponent. She's been active in a state association for probate judges, serving as the group's third woman president. Before she got on the bench, McGookey worked for 16 years as an assistant county prosecutor and in private practice. Her husband, Dan, is a longtime local attorney. The couple lives in Sandusky. There is some sentiment in Columbus to deal with the age limit for judges, but it doesn't seem to be getting much traction so far, McGookey said. Even after she leaves office, McGookey hopes to keep her hand in and preside over cases. There are temporary jobs open to judges who are too old to hold a permanent post. When judges recuse themselves from cases because of a possible conflict of interest, the Ohio Supreme Court often appoints retired judges to preside over a case. For example, the recent trial of podcaster Ashli Ford, in which she was convicted of intimidation, was presided over by a retired judge, Debra Boros. Boros is a retired Lorain County Common Pleas Court judge. According to news coverage, she has also recently been named to handle a divorce trial involving a Trumbull County Common Pleas Court judge, Ronald Rice. Rice is facing drunken driving charges and his wife, Cynthia Westcott Rice, also a common pleas judge, is seeking a divorce. McGookey said after he forced retirement, she hopes to be appointed to handle cases in the same way that Boros has been named to cases.