Former Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Richard Skelton has been sidelined from practicing law after Ohio’s top court ruled he crossed the line to spring a felon from prison early. The Supreme Court of Ohio hit Skelton with a one-year suspension from the practice of law, with six months stayed, and ordered him to cover the costs of the disciplinary case. Skelton, who stepped down from the bench at the end of 2024, was faulted for private communications and for steering the case onto his own docket in a way the court said chipped away at public trust.
In a per curiam slip opinion issued last Tuesday, the court found that Skelton violated multiple rules of judicial and attorney conduct by engaging in extended ex parte communications, doing his own investigation of the case, and skipping the statutory hearing required for judicial release, according to the Supreme Court of Ohio. The justices adopted the Board of Professional Conduct’s findings but concluded that the pattern of misconduct called for a tougher sanction than the board had suggested.
How Skelton Ended Up Controlling the Case
Over roughly two years, Skelton repeatedly traded texts and calls with Shelly Overton, the inmate’s mother and an employee at the medical practice where Skelton was a patient, and worked to get her son Aaron Cox’s case files moved so he could consider another motion for judicial release, according to Court News Ohio. The court said Skelton went so far as to have Cox brought from a state prison to his courtroom, then met with him privately without a lawyer or prosecutor present, before announcing Cox’s release over the prosecutor’s objection.
Offender’s Record And What Happened Next
The opinion notes that Aaron Cox had pleaded guilty in August 2020 to aggravated robbery, felonious assault, escape, and a fentanyl possession offense, and was serving an aggregate indefinite sentence of roughly five to six years. After Skelton ordered his release and the decision was appealed, Cox violated probation and was returned to prison, a turn of events the court said underscored the public safety risk created by Skelton’s actions, per the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Split Opinion And A Sharper Warning From One Justice
The majority of justices settled on a one-year suspension with six months stayed, but Justice Patrick F. Fischer wrote separately that Skelton’s manipulation of the random assignment system and what he called “brazen and persistent” ex parte contacts deserved a stiffer punishment: an 18-month suspension with six months stayed. Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy joined the opinion, which was highlighted in summaries on Justia and Bloomberg Law.
Why Random Case Assignments Matter
The court’s opinion stresses that random case assignment exists to block judge shopping and to shore up public confidence in the courts. When a judge appears to steer a file to himself, the damage goes beyond any single defendant. The Board of Professional Conduct had recommended a fully stayed suspension, but the Supreme Court concluded that the length and scope of Skelton’s misconduct justified a sanction that was only partly stayed, according to Court News Ohio.
Penalty, Resignation And What Comes Next
Skelton, a Centerville attorney who resigned from the bench on December 31, 2024, was ordered to pay the costs of the disciplinary proceedings. Under the court’s ruling, he will have to serve the full one-year suspension only if he engages in additional misconduct, the court said. Local coverage summed up the decision and Skelton’s resignation in the days after the opinion was released, according to WHIO and a republication by the Highland County Press.
The decision is a pointed reminder that even elected judges operate within tight ethical guardrails, and that courts will step in when those limits are ignored in private conversations or behind-the-scenes docket moves. Lawyers, judges, and county court staff told the disciplinary board that Skelton’s conduct eroded public confidence, and the high court’s sanction is aimed at starting to rebuild that trust.
