“It’s not being soft on crime, it’s being smart on crime,” she said of helping those in specialized mental health dockets and OVI dockets.
She hopes that legacy is what people will remember when reflecting on her quarter of a century serving the citizens of Fairfield. At the end of this month, Campbell will step down from the job she’s had since being appointed in June 1999.
“It’s the most important thing I’ve done as a judge, and it’s the thing that’s given me the most satisfaction as a judge,” Campbell said, ‘to see people reclaim their life who are only involved in the criminal justice system because of a mental health condition or a substance abuse disorder, that means everything.”
Though the judge hasn’t been able to accomplish everything she wanted to while on the bench, it doesn’t mean she’s stopping the fight. She’ll continue to be a champion for the mentally ill and those suffering from substance abuse disorders. She has plans to work with former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton, pushing to see every county in Ohio have sequential intercept mapping, which details how people with mental and substance use disorders come into contact with and move through the criminal justice system. She wants to encourage more new judges to set up specialized dockets, like mental health court, OVI and drug courts and veterans, even though it’s more work without additional pay.
“We still don’t have a place for when someone is in crisis,” said Campbell. “The police sometimes have to take them to jail because there’s no safe place for them, and quite frankly, jail is not where they belong. It’s not therapeutic, it’s more traumatic and it just makes the situation worse. We spend all this money on so many things and we don’t take care of our own people. I just don’t understand it and I’ll never understand it. It’s the lynchpin. It’s everything I’ve worked for from Day 1.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Campbell was appointed to the Fairfield Municipal Court bench in June 1999, replacing Judge Keith Spaeth who left to take the bench in Butler County Common Pleas court. After filling the unexpired term, she was elected to four six-year terms, though she will leave the bench with 14 months remaining in this last term.
She’s stepping down because it’s time. She works 40-to-50-hour weeks ― because the job is more than just presiding over cases as she also has a staff of 33 ― and her husband, William, who’s semi-retired, wants to be able to “have fun” in retirement.
“We’ve both worked our whole lives, and none of us know how much time we have,” said Campbell. “I’ve had a job every day since I was 14 and I think it’s okay to take a little break. My son’s going to turn 30 this year, and I’ll finally be able to do his baby book once I retire. It’s funny, but it’s true. I’ve never done his baby book; it’s sitting in a box.”
The job’s also changed over the past 25 years, as the judge said it’s become “much harder” presiding over a municipal court.
“On any given Wednesday, we’re not speaking less than three or four languages,” she said. “Everything takes longer.”
Then post-COVID had “brought out the worst in people. They’re more rude, they have more sense of entitlement,” she said.
But the judge won’t stay off the bench forever. She’s required to step down for 13 weeks before she can take on short assignments or step in as a visiting judge in the state. She’ll also serve the NAMI national board, NAMI Ohio board and the Butler County Mental Health and Addiction Services Board, focusing on the goal of decriminalizing mental illness.
Gov. Mike DeWine will appoint a replacement judge for the Fairfield Municipal Court, and whomever that is, she will give the same advice the late Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Matthew Crehan gave her.
“It’s a very lonely job,” she said, and though “you have to learn to not to take the criticism personally,” it sometimes can sting.
She would also relay advise she received from the late Judge James Walsh, who also served as the city’s municipal court judge. Before the first day on the bench, they need to have a philosophy developed.
“In general, what are you going to do with thefts, what are you going to do on OVIs, what are you going to do on disorderly conducts? And you adjust that depending on the circumstances because there are no two cases that are the same,” she said. ”But the judge’s job is to dispense justice, but it’s also to deter other people from committing similar offenses, and it’s to rehabilitate people so they don’t continue committing crimes against the rest of this. I would say to them, ‘What do you think reflects our community’s values?’”
She also said they need to think about their legacy, to find their passion and follow it. Because that’s what Campbell did, and hopes they’ll continue her legacy with the specialized dockets.
“It’s been an absolute honor and privilege to be the judge in the city of Fairfield,” she said. “This is a wonderful city with wonderful people and I hope it continues to be that.”
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