Stark County Common Pleas Court Judge Taryn L. Heath was elected as the 2023 President to the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association (OCPJA).
She was sworn in by Justice Jennifer Brunner, a longtime friend, and fellow Miami University alumni. OCPJA’s membership includes all general division judges of the state’s common pleas courts, and its mission is “to improve the law, the legal system, and the effective administration of justice.” Judge Heath has been a member of the OCPJA since she took the bench in 2007.
Judge Heath obtained her Juris Doctor from The University of Akron Law School (1982), her B.A. in Public Administration from Miami University (1979), and attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School. In her 40 years of experience in the legal system, she has served as Canton Municipal Court Magistrate (13 years), Private Practice Attorney (25 years), Assistant Attorney General (6 years), and Prosecutor (2 years). Judge Heath chairs the HOPE Program (a collaboration of community partners assisting offenders with mental illness), and presides over Honor Court (a treatment court dedicated to restoring honor, dignity, and lives to military veterans) at the Stark County Court of Common Pleas. She serves as Co-Chair of the Ohio Judicial Conference Innovative and Specialty Committee.
Judge Heath also serves: as a member of the Ohio Attorney General’s Task Force on Criminal Justice and Mental Illness Subcommittee on Veteran Treatment Courts and Military Affairs; on the Ohio Supreme Court Curriculum Committee; as an Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellow; and as the Judicial Representative for Stark County’s “Stepping Up Ohio” Team to reduce the number of people with mental illness in jails. She is a frequent lecturer on ethics, professionalism, and veteran issues for the Ohio Judicial College, Ohio Common Pleas Judges’
Association, Ohio State Bar Association Conferences, and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals National Vet Court Conference. She serves as Co-Chair of the Ohio Judicial Conference Innovative and Specialty Courts Committee.
“I look forward to continuing my service to the citizens of Stark County and Ohio’s Judiciary. Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association (OCPJA) provides exceptional educational opportunities for common pleas judges and advocates for policy and procedural changes on behalf of its members. I am eager to continue in a leadership role within this group of highly dedicated individuals to promote the goals of the OCPJA. ”— Judge Heath