Ryan Styer appointed common pleas judge

Ryan Styer says he plans on running a courtroom in which everyone is treated with dignity.

“I know that I can have a huge impact on our justice system by running a courtroom so that everyone is treated with dignity – the attorneys, the parties, the witnesses, the jurors, the staff. Everyone needs to be treated with dignity, sometimes whether they deserve it or not. Everyone needs to be given a fair day in court and to have their voice heard,” he said.

Styer, a New Philadelphia resident who has been Tuscarawas County’s prosecutor since 2009, was appointed a Common Pleas Court judge Feb. 4 by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. Styer will replace Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos, who retired Feb. 1 after 27 years on the bench.

Between now and March 2, retired Judge Edward O’Farrell will fill in.

Styer has weighed the idea of becoming a judge for some time.

“It came up in the past. I've thought about it. When Judge O'Farrell retired I labored on it quite a bit, thought about it, prayed about it for months. But I love this job and I didn't want to give it up. I felt like we were doing a lot of good things and I just didn't want to walk away from it. It was like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders,” Styer said.

“When Judge Thomakos announced her retirement, I went through that same process. I initially thought I didn't want to give this office up, but again I thought about it, I prayed about it. I really came to the conclusion that if not now, when? And if not me, who? As much as serving as a prosecutor has been the greatest honor of my professional life, I know that I can make a huge impact from the bench.”

During his legal career, Styer has been in the courtrooms of judges in several counties. “There have been a lot of judges whose legacy will live on because they showed my generation how courts should be run, how cases should be tried,” he said.

Styer said the best judges give dignity to all and make honest findings of fact based on the evidence and honest interpretations of the law. “The court is no place for activism when it comes to interpreting the law.”

Styer is a 1990 graduate of Newcomerstown High School. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1995 with a degree in agribusiness and a minor in philosophy. He earned his law degree at the University of Akron in 1998.

After working for a law firm in Canton for one year, he began practicing law with his father, Dan. While working for Styer Law Offices, he served as the Carroll County assistant public defender from 2000 to 2008 and as the Newcomerstown village solicitor from 2004 to 2008. He was elected Tuscarawas County prosecutor in 2008.

According to Ohio law, Styer must run in November if he wants to remain as judge. Since Thomakos retired in the middle of her term, he would also have to run again in 2028. He said he plans to run in November.

Mike DiDonato, chairman of the Tuscarawas County Democratic Party, said his party will also have a candidate for judge this November.

Once Styer has become judge, the Tuscarawas County Republican Party will meet to select his replacement as prosecutor. Styer said that will probably happen within a few weeks of March 2. In the interim, commissioners will appoint an acting prosecutor.

Whoever is chosen to be prosecutor will also have to run to keep that office in November.