Gov. John Kasich will announce today the appointment of Warren County Juvenile Court Judge Mike Powell to succeed former Judge Rachel Hutzel in the 12th District Court of Appeals.

The county GOP and Democrats both picked candidates after Hutzel died of cancer in August at the age of 56. The Democratic candidate for the court is Raymond Lembke, a Clermont County attorney. Lembke said the governor’s office never contacted him. The 12th District handles cases from Butler, Warren, Clermont, Preble, Brown, Clinton, Fayette and Madison counties.

Powell was appointed to the juvenile court in 2000 and has won two elections since then. Prior to that he was the chief assistant prosecutor for the county. He has said in the past this is a good step in his career as he enjoys legal research and writing and he feels his juvenile court experience will benefit the bench.

Generally the governor asks the county GOP leaders to pick three candidates, vet them and send their names to Columbus. The GOP only picked Powell for the appeals court nomination. If he wins in November, Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said they will follow a similar procedure to fill the juvenile court bench.

Several people have expressed interest in the juvenile court appointment, including Mason Municipal Court Judge D. Andrew Batsche, juvenile court Magistrate Carolyn Duvelius, Warren County Judge Joe Kirby, Warren County Judge Don Oda and Assistant Prosecutor Andy Sievers.

Oda is on the November ballot for the common pleas court, to replace retiring Judge Neal Bronson. Oda said he hasn’t made up his mind yet but he doubts the governor will have time to select a successor for Powell before the election. He thinks he needs to get his name in to keep all his options open. If he beats Libertarian Roger Staton, then the governor will have yet another appointment to make.

The last time there was an open judgeship in Warren County was when former Judge James Heath committed suicide in 2009. Former Gov. Ted Strickland created a judicial nominating committee called the Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendation Panel (OJARP). Attorneys applied and the panel narrowed the field of 11 candidates down to three. Strickland gave the nod to Judge Robert Peeler, a Republican.

Nichols called the 12-step OJARP process “bureaucratic and cumbersome” and said it took too long to get appointments. Heath died Memorial Day weekend and Peeler was named at the end of August.

Hutzel was elected in 2010 and was the first woman to serve on the 12th District court. She was also the first female prosecutor in Warren County. She and Judge Robin Piper ran unopposed for the 12th District in 2010.

The last contested race for the court was in the 2008 when Judge Robert Hendrickson beat Democratic challenger Laura Curliss with 54 percent of the vote. Judge Robert Ringland won with 58 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Bruce Carter’s 42 percent.

12th District Assistant Court Administrator Scot Ritter said retired appeals Judge William Young was appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to work on Hutzel’s pending cases. If Powell can’t make the move immediately, the high court has appointed retired appeals Judge H.J. Bressler to sit on oral argument panels to which Hutzel was assigned.