Kevin H. Taylor

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
Judge of the Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Juvenile and Probate Division for the last seven years and ten months

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
I was in private general practice of law for 31 years, working primarily in the areas of estate planning, tax, domestic relations, business, and real estate. In addition to my private practice, I was a part-time assistant prosecuting attorney for over 26 years with approximately 10 those years as a prosecutor in juvenile court. My experience in private practice, dealing especially with estate planning and domestic relations, created a strong foundation of real-life experiences with issues that a probate judge must handle.Likewise, my experience as a prosecutor in juvenile court where I prosecuted juvenile delinquency cases and neglect, abuse and/or dependency cases has provide me with valuable first hand experience with the type of cases I will hear as a judge.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I am running for re-election to the Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Juvenile/Probate Division because I love the job and during my tenure as judge I have run the court efficiently and effectively. For the past seven years and ten months, it is has been my honor to serve the people of Van Wert County as their juvenile and probate Judge. In juvenile court, the focus is predominately on what is in the best interest of the child.

Children are our most precious resource. It is extremely important that the juvenile judge be dedicated to do what is in the best interest of the child. When a child gets into trouble, my first goal is not to punish the child but to rehabilitate the child. To be sure, a child must be held accountable when he misbehaves. Sometimes, it is necessary to place a child in detention, but the most effective way to treat a delinquent child is through local treatment programs, supervised activities, and community services work with the goal to change the child’s behavior allowing them to become productive adults. When a child ordered to pay restitution, we provide the child with community service work which allows the child to generate money which is then paid to the victim as compensation for his or her economic loss. We have partnered with a local church for a garden project. The church has ground which they provide to our children on community control to raise vegetables for the community. This past year we had over 20 kids work in the garden. Many had no prior experience in growing, cultivating and harvesting vegetables from the garden. The harvest went to the local food pantry and the kids had a positive work experience.

By carefully utilizing our resources, the Juvenile Court has been able to spend less than what was originally allocated to the court in our budget, thereby allowing us to return to the Van Wert County general fund an average of 5,000.00 for each year of the last five years.

The other half of my job is Probate Court. This involves estates of people who have died, guardianships, adoptions, civil matters, records, trusteeships and other issues. In 2017, we placed our probate court records on line giving the community greater access to our information. In 2018, we placed marriage license application on line.