Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the appointment of Republican attorney James Payne to the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas, General and Domestic Relations Division serving the Ross, Gallia, Jackson, Hocking, and Athens communities.
Judge-designee Payne, of McArthur, has been the Vinton County prosecutor for the past two-and-a-half years. Before that, he started his own law practice that year in South Point, a village consisting of about 3,500 individuals in Lawrence County, where he had lived most of his life after beginning his career as a judicial attorney in Lawrence County in 1994.
Payne graduated with a bachelor of business administration in systems analysis from Harding University located in Searcy, Arkansas in 1984 before receiving a law degree from Capital University Law School in 1994.
Effective immediately, Payne will take the seat formerly held by Judge James Salyer who unexpectedly resigned from the seat effective June 4th. Payne will serve the remainder of the unfinished term and needs to run for election in November 2024 to retain the seat for a subsequent term.
Judge Salyer continues to provide legal services to the county prosecutor’s office, county court, and commissioners despite leaving his position as a judge on June 4th.
On May 16th the Vinton County Republican Executive Committee voted unanimously to recommend Payne to Governor Mike DeWine as the best-qualified individual to fill the vacancy left by Judge Salyer unexpectedly stepping down.
According to the Vinton County Republican Party, in the interim from Salyer’s June 4th resignation until Governor Mike DeWine appointed Payne to Common Pleas judge, visiting judges from outside of Vinton County handled the cases in the Vinton County Common Pleas Court.
After Vinton County Republican Party Chair Rhonda Dutcher learned about Payne’s judicial appointment, she said she wishes “Mr. Payne the best in his new position.”
Payne said that when Salyer stepped down, Salyer himself and the other local judges as well as many other elected office holders and members of the Republican party urged him to consider seeking the appointment for the vacant seat.
Payne told The Ohio Star that he looks forwards to serving as judge for the Vinton County Common Pleas Court, and he hopes to retain the seat for a subsequent term.
“I would like to thank the Vinton County Republican Executive Committee for giving me a unanimous recommendation to fill this seat until January 1, 2025. Also, I appreciate Gov. Mike DeWine. his Chief Legal Counsel Matt Donahue, and the rest of his staff for their prompt movement on appointing me to serve as Vinton County Common Pleas Court Judge. I am looking forward to serving on the bench at least until 2025, and then it will be up to the voters to determine if I’ve done a good job and deserve another four (hopefully more) years,” Payne told The Star.
The Star reached out to the Vinton County Republican Party for additional comment but did not receive a reply before press time.
The Vinton County Common Pleas Court is a trial court that handles matters regarding the title of real land, such as foreclosures and criminal felony cases, all civil cases with claims totaling more than $15,000. Domestic Relations divisions within the Common Pleas Courts also consider matters regarding spousal maintenance, child custody, divorce, legal separation, annulment, parental rights, and children.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
