The candidates – Democrat Regina Richards, Independent Bob Lancaster and Republican Brian Driscoll – are competing for the seat being vacated by O’Neill, whose term is set to expire on Jan. 2 next year. Judicial candidates run nonpartisan in general elections in Ohio.
The News-Sun spoke with all three, and they shared their views and goals.
Brian Driscoll
Brian Driscoll said he has worked as an assistant prosecutor for more than 17 years in order to fight for voiceless people, but he wants to take on the role of judge to better serve the community he grew up in.
As a prosecuting attorney, Driscoll said he works with felony-level, violent crime cases. He also spent a few years working exclusively with cases that originated in the Childhood Advocacy Center.
“When you have a victim’s family… give you a hug after trial, or someone tell you ‘Thank you for standing up for me,’ that’s a whole different feeling that you get,” he said. “That makes it a real, real special job that you get to do.”
Driscoll has worked as an attorney for nearly 20 years and is the assistant prosecuting attorney for the Champaign County Prosecutor’s Office. Driscoll has also worked as an appointed Clark County Municipal Court judge, assistant prosecuting attorney for the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office and a general practice attorney for four years.
Driscoll said the next Common Pleas judge will face a few countywide obstacles, including community violence, a mental health crisis and recidivism. But those challenges can begin to see progress, in part, through the criminal justice system.
Driscoll said this could look like a boosted relationship between the courts and the county’s mental health board, and working to bring mental health services like assessments and treatment to people facing charges early in the court process.
“Those are things that we want to start doing at the forefront and not wait till the end game,” he said. “We want to make sure that’s part of the program, and part of what we’re looking at from the very beginning as soon as they come in contact with our court.”
Accountability is a priority of Driscoll’s, too, in terms of handling cases of violent crime.
“That is what Common Pleas Court judges have to do, is to punish that individual and to protect citizens, especially with young people who are 18, 19, 20, who are willing to go out and take the life of someone else. The judge needs to take that seriously,” Driscoll said.
Driscoll won the Republican primary in May for the Common Pleas judicial race, defeating two competitors and taking home more than 40% of the votes.
Driscoll is a graduate of Tecumseh High School and the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law in Western Michigan.
Robert Lancaster
Robert Lancaster, a Springfield trial attorney, said he thinks the community needs someone who can take a “conservative” look at the law.
In Lancaster’s 35 years practicing law, he said he’s helped thousands of families in civil and criminal cases. He has worked on both felony and misdemeanor criminal cases and civil cases dealing with divorce, personal injury, custody, visitation, paternity and more.
Lancaster said he entered the judge race because he wants to give back to the community and thinks his professional experience and community involvement have equipped him with skills that would benefit a judge.
“It’s a position that requires experience, common sense,” he said.
Lancaster also said he believes the penal system can be used to begin rehabilitation.
“To keep citizens safe, you need to hold people accountable,” he said. “That system is better suited to provide people with resources: alcohol and drug treatment, mental health.”
Lancaster said he is a Constitutionalist, and he often carries around a copy of the U.S. Constitution to give away to people.
Lancaster grew up in Enon and has called Springfield home for several years. He’s a graduate of the University of Dayton school of law, Wittenberg University and Greenon High School.
Aside from his work as an attorney, he is also the founder of the Springfield Tutoring Academy, which specializes in helping children with learning disabilities access after-school tutoring. The academy is a nonprofit he started after struggling to access resources for his child, who was diagnosed with dyslexia years back.
Regina Richards
Regina Richards, a private practice lawyer, hopes to be the county’s first-ever woman Common Pleas judge in its general division.
Richards has 16 years of civil and criminal litigation experience in Ohio Common Pleas courts, and she has lived and worked in Clark County for 8 years. She said she loves living in Clark County because it reminds her of growing up in a rural area in Franklin County, and she loves the beauty of the farmland.
Richards said if elected, she would prioritize the case management schedule for efficient due process, seek to reduce recidivism (the tendency of a convicted person to reoffend) and not “burdening” taxpayers and look into solutions for reducing costs associated with the court.
She pointed to Champaign County in 2015 being recognized by the Ohio Supreme Court for having the lowest jail costs in all of the state by cutting down the amount of time from sentencing to when an inmate is either taken to prison, taken to a program or released.
“It’s indicative of a purposeful trial court,” she said. “Someone that goes in there and does things in a way that saves taxpayer dollars.”
Richards said she also sees courts granting bonds for non-violent offenses on the condition of GPS monitoring and also the requirement of pretrial reporting to probation, both at the defendant’s expense, and would like to explore that tool.
She also believes incarceration is effective for violent offenders and repeat offenders. Intervention saves lives, but should not be exploited by repeat offenders, she said.
Richards graduated from The Ohio State University and from the Cooley Law School in Western Michigan. Richards is also a veteran, and she was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 2000.
Richards ran unopposed in the May 4 Democratic primary.
Also on the Nov. 8 ballot, Common Pleas Court Judge Douglas Rastatter is running unopposed this November for a judge seat in the general division, with his term beginning in January. He grew up in Springfield and has been a judge for 17 years.
Early voting in Ohio launched on Oct. 12. Polls for Election Day in Clark County will open at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 8 and close at 7:30 p.m., according to the Clark County Board of Elections.
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