Court News Ohio
Court News Ohio
Court News Ohio

New Judges Appointed for Summit and Hamilton Counties

Image is of separate headshot photos of Cincinnati attorney Bertha Garcia Helmick and Stow attorney Susan Steinhauer

Cincinnati attorney Bertha Garcia Helmick (left) and Stow attorney Susan Steinhauer (right) received judicial appointments today.

Image is of separate headshot photos of Cincinnati attorney Bertha Garcia Helmick and Stow attorney Susan Steinhauer

Cincinnati attorney Bertha Garcia Helmick (left) and Stow attorney Susan Steinhauer (right) received judicial appointments today.

New judges were appointed today to fill court vacancies in Summit and Hamilton counties.

Stow attorney Susan Steinhauer will serve as a judge on the Summit County Common Pleas Domestic Relations Court and Bertha Garcia Helmick will take office on the Hamilton County Municipal Court. The appointments were made by Gov. Mike DeWine.

Judge-designate Steinhauer, of Stow, replaces Judge Katarina Cook, who was elected to another seat on the domestic relations court.

Taking office on April 26, Judge-designate Steinhauer has worked as an attorney in the private sector since 2011, coordinating litigation and as outside counsel for a major corporate client. She also has served as a magistrate, foreclosure specialist, and judicial attorney at the Summit County Common Pleas Court.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Miami University and her law degree from the Indiana University School of Law.

Judge-designate Garcia Helmick, of Cincinnati, takes office April 9. She replaces Judge Alan C. Triggs, who now sits on the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. Judge-designate Garcia Helmick will need to run for election this November to complete the unexpired term ending Jan. 2, 2024.

Judge-designate Garcia Helmick is the first woman of Hispanic descent to serve as magistrate of the Hamilton County Probate Court. As a practicing attorney since 1995, she represented those facing involuntary commitment and her focus areas included collaborative family law, domestic relations and juvenile law, and estate planning.

She earned her law degree from University of Cincinnati College of Law. She also earned a bachelor of music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as well as an associate of arts degree from Columbia College in Missouri.