TROY — Judge Jeffrey M. Welbaum has been elected presiding and administrative judge of the Ohio Second District Court of Appeals for 2023 by his fellow judges.

The second district is comprised of six counties in southwestern Ohio, including Montgomery, Greene, Clark, Miami, Darke, and Champaign Counties.

As the presiding judge, Welbaum calls and presides over meetings to discuss and resolve any administrative issues of the court and presides over oral arguments. As the administrative judge, Welbaum is responsible for the administration, docket, case assignment, and calendar of the court of appeals, among other duties.

Welbaum joined the Court of Appeals in February 2013. Before his election to the appellate bench, he was a general division Miami County, Ohio, Common Pleas judge from 1995 to 2010 and served as its drug court judge for eight years. Between 1996 and 2011 Welbaum was frequently assigned by the Ohio Supreme Court as a visiting judge in many western Ohio counties. He has also been assigned as a visiting appellate judge in several other appellate districts since 2013 and sat as a visiting member of the Ohio Supreme Court in January, 2019. Welbaum presently serves on the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Technology and the Courts.

Born in Troy, Ohio, Welbaum graduated from Troy High School in 1970. He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from The Defiance College in 1974. After attending law school, he graduated from the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law in 1977 and was admitted to the Ohio Bar that same year. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts of northern and southern Ohio, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Prior to his judicial service, Welbaum was in the private practice of law with Miller, Schlemmer, and Luring Co., L.P.A., (1981-1989). He also served as an assistant Miami County prosecuting attorney (1978-1982), an assistant Miami County public defender (1982-1984), a special assistant United States attorney, S.D. Dayton, Ohio (1990-1993), and, for 10 years, as the elected Miami County prosecuting attorney (1985-1994). From 2011 to 2013 Welbaum served as chief of the criminal justice section for former Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, where he led the capital crimes, habeas corpus, prison litigation, and special prosecutions units.

Welbaum is a member of the Miami County, Dayton, Ohio State, and American Bar Associations and served as president of the Miami County Bar Association. He has served the community in many leadership positions, and received numerous awards for his public and charitable service. He lives in Troy with his wife Peg. They have two adult children.

In 2023 Welbaum will serve on the court of appeals with Judges Michael Tucker, Christopher Epley, Ronald Lewis, and Mary Katherine Huffman.