Judge Michael DeLeone was appointed in 2023 by Governor DeWine to serve as Lake County’s Juvenile Court Judge. Prior to this, Judge DeLeone served as an assistant prosecutor in the Civil Division under Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson.

Since taking office, Judge DeLeone has focused on making improvements to the courts accessibility and physical structure. He opened up a night docket to enable hearings without the need for parents to take time off work or pull students out of class for non-violent offences. Judge DeLeone has also improved access to online court documents by making the docket fully digitized.

Judge DeLeone is running to retain his seat because he believes he is best suited to:

• Modernize the technology in the Juvenile Court

• Reduce recidivism among juvenile defenders by offering diversion and educational programming for detainees

• making capital improvements to the Juvenile Courthouse to enhance safety measures for detainees, court staff, and members of the public