JUDGE CAROL ANN ROBB
Judge Carol Ann Robb was elected to the 7th District Court of Appeals in 2014. She brings extensive experience as a trial court judge to the appellate bench. In 2001 she was appointed Magistrate for the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court before being elected Judge of the Columbiana County Municipal Court in 2005.
During her ten years as Municipal Court Judge, Judge Robb earned acclaim statewide and nationally for programs she initiated in the court. One such program was the mental health docket known as STAR, Successful Treatment And Recovery. STAR was the first mental health docket certified by the Ohio Supreme Court and has been used as the template for mental health courts throughout Ohio. Under Judge Robb's leadership, the Columbiana County Municipal Court was the first court in Ohio to address economic issues faced by defendants based upon "Bridges Out of Poverty". The Defendant's Getting Ahead program reduced recidivism for its graduates and helped them gain and maintain employment. It was adopted by fourteen (14) other courts in Ohio and by numerous other courts throughout the country. To promote employment, Judge Robb worked with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to put safe drivers back on the road. She also extended the use of electronically monitored house arrest to include indigent defendants, saving substantial tax dollars and providing equal justice to all defendants.
Judge Robb was appointed by Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and later by Chief Justice Maureen O'Conner to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court Specialty Docket Advisory Committee. After the Committee's recommendations were adopted by the Supreme Court, Chief Justice O'Connor appointed Judge Robb to serve on the Special Docket Commission, a position she held until her election to the Court of Appeals. She also served on the Ohio Judicial College, where she co-chaired the Specialty Docket Section.
While on the Court of Appeals, Judge Robb served on the Review Panel for Grievances against a justice of or candidate for the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Executive Committee for the Ohio Appellate Judges Association and as Presiding/Administrative Judge for the 7th District. She currently serves on the Ohio Judicial Conference, Appellate Law & Procedure Committee, and was appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to the Commission on the Rules of Superintendence. She has sat by assignment on numerous cases in sister appellate districts as well as on the Ohio Supreme Court.
Prior to taking the bench, Carol Robb practiced law in the Youngstown Area with the law firm of Roth, Stephens & Blair LPA (now known as Roth, Blair, Roberts, Strasfeld & Lodge LPA) before opening her private practice in Columbiana County. She practiced law for 18 years.
Judge Robb received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Youngstown State University in 1977. She studied in the Masters of Business Administration program at the University of Akron before enter law school at the University of Akron, receiving her degree of Juris Doctor in 1983. Judge Robb was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1983, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in 1984, and Supreme Court of the United States in 1987.
She and her family started various companies in the retail petroleum industry which the family operated from 1981 through 2010.
Judge Robb and her husband reside in Columbiana County and have three adult daughters.
