LISBON — With Judge Katelyn Dickey appointed to the Seventh District Court of Appeals and taking office April 10, that leaves an empty bench at Columbiana County Municipal Court that Gov. Mike DeWine will have to fill.

“I have a number of people who have expressed an interest already,” county Republican Party Chairman David Johnson said Friday, shortly after Dickey’s appellate court appointment was announced.

“We’ve got some good candidates to choose from,” he said.

Since Dickey is a Republican, the county Republican Party will submit three names to the governor for his consideration for the vacancy once the seat becomes vacant. The governor’s office will vet the candidates and conduct interviews and background checks, with the final decision on who to appoint up to DeWine.

Any attorneys interested in the judgeship should send a letter of interest to: David W. Johnson, P.O. Box 73, Summitville, Ohio 43962. He already interviewed one possible candidate on Friday.

He noted that Columbiana County has a “very good crop” of young attorneys and any one of them would be a good choice. Dickey’s term with the county Municipal Court doesn’t expire until Dec. 31, 2025, so whoever is appointed to the unexpired term will serve just under two years. If they want to keep the seat, they’ll need to run in 2025 for a new six-year term.

When contacted about her appointment, Dickey said, “I am looking forward to doing the job that so many in the Seventh District trusted me to do on Election Day. This is truly bittersweet for me. I loved serving the people of Columbiana County as a municipal court judge, but I greatly look forward to continuing to serve the people of Columbiana County and the other seven counties in this new capacity.”

Besides Columbiana County, the appellate district includes Mahoning, Belmont, Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble counties.

Johnson said Dickey’s appointment to the Seventh District Court of Appeals was expected since she won the Republican primary last week with 72 percent of the district vote over her opponent Mary DeGenaro. DeGenaro is a former Ohio Supreme Court justice and former Seventh District Court of Appeals judge.

According to Johnson, Dickey won 85 percent of the vote in Columbiana County, making her the highest vote getter in a contested primary in the county ever.

“She is one of the best campaigners we have in Columbiana County,” he said.

DeWine announced Dickey’s appointment to the Seventh District Court of Appeals Friday afternoon. She’ll be taking the seat formerly held by Judge David D’Apolito, who resigned at the beginning of the year. She will serve the remainder of the unfinished term and will need to run for election in November to retain the seat. She’ll be unopposed in the general election, Johnson said.

Dickey has been serving as a Columbiana County Municipal Court judge since Jan. 1, 2020 after being elected in November 2019.

Most of her law career has been spent in her home county of Columbiana County, working as a staff attorney for Common Pleas Court, as a Common Pleas Court Magistrate and as a county assistant prosecutor. After graduating from law school, she began teaching business law at the Salem campus of Kent State University.

In 2008, Dickey received a bachelor’s degree from Gannon University. She received her juris doctor from the University of Akron in 2012.

According to the press release issued by the governor’s office, she is a member of The Federalist Society; the Columbiana County, Mahoning County, and Ohio State Bar Associations; Columbiana County Farm Bureau; Columbiana County Township Association; Columbiana County Business Professional Women; Crestview Local PTO; and the Ohio Judicial Conference.