“That’s that,” he said with a smile. “If it were up to me, I would lock the door, turn over the keys and walk away.”
Sage, who will be 64 when he leaves office, said after last year’s election he talked with party leaders about his exit, but there was no official announcement.
Not one to talk much about himself, Sage, a Hamilton native, admitted he will miss being a judge — more the law than judgement, he said — but he is ready for a new chapter.
Before taking the bench in 1991, Sage was an assistant county prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney. In retirement, the retired United States Navy Captain who served in Vietnam, said he plans to return to his roots.
Sage and his wife, Debby, a retired art teacher, will be aboard a yacht for two years navigating the 6,000 miles of waters know as the “great loop.”
“It’s something that I have always wanted to do,” Sage said. After his boating adventure, Sage said he plans to become more involved in metal heath and veterans issues in the role of an advocate and write a book compiling letters his father wrote to his mother during World War II while stationed in Northern Africa.
“They are a wonderful treasure,” Sage said of the letters.
Sage is the second-longest serving general division judge in county history. Judge Fred B. Cramer served the longest — from 1939 to 1980.
That’s a lot of cases and a lot of trials, he admits, but said his best legal work was done as a prosecutor.
“I will miss making decisions, which I hope affect people in positive ways,” Sage said. “I accepted the fact years ago that people do not always agree with my decision, but I hope they find they were treated fairly.”
Sage’s long career was overshadowed in 2012, when an extramarital affair with a court recorder became public after she made accusations she was treated differently by court staff following a breakup. An independent investigation of the hostile workplace accusations cleared Sage and the staff of wrongdoing. He did not deny the affair and cooperated with investigators.
The judge declined to comment about the incident for this story.
Among the milestones in his career, according to Sage, include: establishing the first mental health felony court program in the United States; first judge to be president of the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association; and service as the chairman of two Ohio Supreme Court Commissions.
Two members of the bar have announced their candidacy for Sage’s office — assistant prosecutor Michael Oster and Ben Manning, 12th District Court of Appeals administrator.
“There will be a new generation,” Sage said, noting that is a positive. Judge Jennifer Muench-McElfresh, a former assistant prosecutor, was appointed to fill Judge Andrew Nastoff vacant office last year. She is running unopposed for election.
One of Sage’s final act as judge is one he is most proud. He has has been working for a year to establish a Butler County Veterans Court Services Center that addresses the needs of veterans who enter the court system from anywhere in the county.
The program is scheduled to be up and running this month, Sage said.
Staffing the center, located at the adult probation office in Hamilton, will be a probation officer, a staff member from Butler County Veterans Services Commission and a veterans justice outreach specialist from veterans administration.
“It will be their job to coordinate services to ensure the veteran gets the services they need and are entitled to,” Sage said.
Unlike a specialized court, the court services center can be accessed by any court in the county, Sage said.
“It was very important to me to get this established before I left office,” Sage said.
About the Author
