Ohio § 1907.13

§ 1907.13.

(A) A county court judge, at the time of filing a nominating petition for the office

or at the time of appointment to the office and during the judge's term of office,

shall be a qualified elector and a resident of the county court district in which

the judge is elected or appointed.  A county court judge does not have to be a resident of an area of separate jurisdiction

in the county court district to which the judge may be assigned pursuant to section 1907.15 of the Revised Code .  Every county court judge shall have been admitted to the practice of law in this

state for at least one year preceding the judge's appointment or the commencement

of the judge's term and, except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section,

for a total of at least six years preceding the judge's appointment or the commencement

of the judge's term, shall have done any of the following: (1) Engaged in the practice of law in this state; (2) Practiced in a federal court in this state, regardless of whether at the time of

that practice the person was admitted to the practice of law in this state or practiced

in the courts of this state; (3) Engaged in the authorized practice of law as in-house counsel for a business in this

state or as an attorney for a government entity in this state, regardless of whether

at the time of that practice the person was admitted to the practice of law in this

state or practiced in the courts of this state. (B) The six-year practice requirement specified in division (A) of this section does

not apply to a county court judge who is holding office on September 10, 2012, and

who subsequently is a candidate for that office. (C) Judges of a county court shall be elected by the electors of the county court district

at the general election in even-numbered years as set forth in section 1907.11 of the Revised Code for a term of six years commencing on the first day of January following the election

for the county court or on the dates specified in section 1907.11 of the Revised Code for particular county court judges.  Their successors shall be elected in even-numbered years every six years. All candidates for county court judge shall be nominated by petition.  The nominating petition shall be in the general form and signed and verified as

prescribed by section 3513.261 of the Revised Code and shall be signed by the lesser of fifty qualified electors of the county court

district or a number of qualified electors of the county court district not less than

one per cent of the number of electors who voted for governor at the most recent regular

state election in the district.  A nominating petition shall not be accepted for filing or filed if it appears on

its face to contain signatures aggregating in number more than twice the minimum aggregate

number of signatures required by this section.  A nominating petition shall be filed with the board of elections not later than

four p.m. of the ninetieth day before the day of the general election.