Judge Candace C. Crouse was recently selected by her colleagues to serve as the Administrative and Presiding Judge for 2023. In this capacity, Judge Crouse is responsible for the administration, docket, and calendar for the First District Court of Appeals.
Judge Crouse was elected to the court in November 2018 and took the bench on February 11, 2019. After graduating from The Ohio State University College of Law in 2000, Judge Crouse spent two years clerking for the Honorable Fredrick P. Stamp, Jr. on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. Before being elected to the bench, Judge Crouse was a partner in her own law firm and represented clients in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate levels. Throughout her career, Judge Crouse made it a priority to use her law degree to help people who were lost or without a voice in our legal system. She often took court appointments for criminal cases and volunteered her legal services to the protect the rights of those who could not afford counsel.
Judge Crouse has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and a Trail Team Coach at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Currently, she is a member of the Ohio Judicial Conference Jury Instructions Committee, the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, and the Potter Stewart Inn of Court.