County’s newest judge ‘smart and restrained’

Jennifer Muench-McElfresh always encourages her 10-year-old son to try new things, so when a judgeship opened up, her husband told the assistant prosecutor to take her own advice and step outside her comfort zone.

The 14-year veteran of the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office threw her hat in the ring for governor’s appointment to fill the common pleas judge vacancy created by Judge Andrew Nastoff’s retirement.

“I am someone who likes to thoroughly consider everything,” she said. “My husband and I talked about it. He said it was time for mom to use some of the advice she was given her son.”

On Monday, Muench-McElfresh will be sworn in by retired Judge H.J. Bressler, who occupied Nastoff’s seat before election to the 12th District Court of Appeals and has filled in over the past few months until the appointment.

“I wasn’t expecting Judge Nastoff to retire. So this wasn’t something I planned out in advance,” Muench-McElfresh said. “But over the years I have a lot of trial experience and had the opportunity learn and use a lot of decision-making skills. It was the right decision for me.”

Muench-McElfresh, 41, a native of Hamilton County, is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law. She has been a prosecutor for 14 years and chief of the child assault division for two years. She and her husband, Robert, live in Fairfield with their son, Zachary, and their dog, Max.

Fresh out of law school, Muench-McElfresh took a job at the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office and never looked back.

“I liked it very much,” she said. “I didn’t feel the need to look elsewhere.”

Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said he was supportive of Muench-McElfresh’s bid for the judgeship.

“But I knew I would be shooting myself in the foot at the same time,” Gmoser said. “No person should be considered irreplaceable, but she is a close to it as anyone could get.”

Gmoser said Muench-McElfresh handled child abuse cases that “really nobody wanted to handle. They hit too close to home.”

“But she has always put the interest of justice first and advocacy second … that is what it takes to be a great jurist,” the prosecutor said.

Gmoser nominated his former assistant prosecutor for the Meritorious Service Award in 2012 from the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, which she won

County defense attorneys who have faced Muench-McElfresh are also supportive to the decision.

“I was delighted for Jennifer,” said attorney Tamara Sack, president of the Butler County Bar Association. “Jennifer has dedicated her professional career to service as a prosecutor. As a prosecutor, she has taken the more difficult cases involving child victims. I am certain that she will continue to represent the interests of justice as a common please judge.”

Attorney Chris Pagan described Muench-McElfresh as “smart and restrained.”

“She has a first-class demeanor in court. Those are all good attributes for a judge. Power and a bad demeanor, that’s a bad mix,” Pagan said.

Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney, who is the only female judge in the general division, said, “I am looking forward to her being on the bench. I think she is going to do a fantastic job.”

Muench-McElfresh must run in November 2014 to keep the seat for the full term, which begins Jan. 1, 2015.

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