Amy H. Lewis

Question 1

List your judicial experience (courts and years)

Greene County Juvenile Court Magistrate - March, 2000 to March, 2021

Greene County Juvenile Court Judge - March 2021 to present

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Question 2

What non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?

     I knew when I was younger that I wanted to use a law degree in a way that would give me the legal skills to provide services to help children in need while strengthening families.  In law school I worked for the National Commission on Children in Washington D.C. My first job as a lawyer was with the Child Support Enforcement Division of the Greene County Prosecutor's Office.  I also served as.the Court Administrator in Greene County Juvenile Court which allowed me to develop the following skills necessary to operate a juvenile court: personnel oversight: program development; grant writing; budgeting; oversight of the Greene County Juvenile Detention Center to comply with Ohio Administrative Codes; and developing the knowledge needed to become the Juvenile Court Clerk of Court.  I recognize the importance of being present in the community and developing and maintaining community partners in order to collaborate in an effort to provide services to families and children.  While the Court Administrator, a Magistrate and now Judge, I continue to work to develop a team of community partners that weekly join with our Intervention and Assessment Centers to wrap services around both court involved youth and those referred to the court from schools, law enforcement and self referrals. 

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Question 3

Why are you running for this particular court seat?

A Juvenile Court Judge must know not only the intricacies of juvenile law but also understand how unique each case and each person is that appears before the Court.  Over the last twenty-two years that I have served as a Magistrate, and eighteen months as a Judge, I have kept up with changes in  juvenile law and have the ability to understand the complexity of cases that appear before me.  I also am grateful to have the experience of working with community partners to develop programming and resources to meet the needs of the youth and families that appear before the Court giving me the opportunity to order and provide services to meet their specific needs.  Through the years I have been fortunate to work with and develop a team of individuals that work together to safeguard the children appearing before the Court while protecting society and holding juveniles accountable for their actions.  I believe I have the ability to understand the needs of these youth, have experience developing dispositional alternatives in hearings to improve the lives of these children and understand how trauma impacts a child's life, including their mental health needs and childhood development.  I want to provide a service to my community in a role lthat gives me the ability to address critical juvenile legal issues while performing administrative court functions and developing collaborative community partners. 

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