OTTAWA — After recently announcing he was stepping down from the bench in Putnam County, Judge Randall Basinger announced Tuesday he is running for the 3rd District Court of Appeals.
Basinger said he has considered running for the appellate court for many years. In the 1990s, he sat as an appellate judge when the Ohio Supreme Court used common pleas judges as needed to fill in.
“I enjoyed the challenge and the intellectual process,” he said.
Basinger said he has enjoyed the three decades he has spent on the bench but is seeking a new opportunity.
“I still enjoy what I’m doing now but I look toward the prospect of doing something new,” he said.
Basinger, who is filing as a Democrat, has been a judge in Putnam County since 1987 handling felony cases, domestic relations and civil lawsuits.
He said he has a wealth of experience to serve him well as an appellate court judge. He also was a prosecutor in Lake and Putnam counties.
Basinger has handled numerous death penalty cases, medical negligence and product liability cases.
He has written statewide articles on legal issues and has been appointed to serve on a commission that deals with the rules of court. He also teaches constitutional law and criminal procedure at Bluffton University and has accepted a position to teach trial advocacy at Ohio Northern University law school.
Basinger is filing his petition today to run. Two others have filed to run, both Republicans, Amy Ikerd, an assistant Mercer County prosecutor; and William Zimmerman, a juvenile and probate court judge in Shelby County.
The 3rd District is a state appellate court based in Lima that handles cases from 17 counties.
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