Ohio Justice Candidate Violated Ethics Rules, Won’t Be Punished

A former judge running to be on the Ohio Supreme Court violated ethics rules but won’t be punished, the state appeals courts’ chief justice said Tuesday.

Colleen O’Donnell knew a conservative group’s endorsement described her as a “judge” when she’s no longer on the bench, court filings show. This was a violation of state judicial ethics rules, but a three-judge panel’s recommendation that she committed the violation yet shouldn’t be sanctioned partly due to the “technical” nature of the infraction shall stand, Judge Robert A. Hendrickson of the Ohio Court of Appeals, 12th District said. The case won’t be further litigated, Hendrickson wrote.

• A spokeswoman for O’Donnell—who served as a common pleas judge in Franklin County from 2013 to 2023, and then as an immigration judge in Laredo, Texas—said in a statement that the campaign “knew all along there was nothing to this, and the court confirmed it,” even though the panel said otherwise
• She’s one of four candidates running for the Republican nomination, with the winner of next month’s primary set to face the court’s lone Democrat in November
• The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct’s website previously said the case was dismissed, but a panel later held another hearing, which led to Tuesday’s ruling

The complaint relator is represented by Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. O’Donnell is represented by Gallagher Sharp LLP.

The case is In re: Judicial Campaign Grievance Against Colleen Tonges O’Donnell, Ohio Court of Appeals Judges Association, No. 2026-06, 4/21/26.