NEWS RELEASE
[For immediate release]
2/2/2026
Current Common Pleas Court Judge Albert S. Camplese is declared as a candidate to assume the General Division responsibilities of his colleague, Judge David A. Schroeder, who is retiring on January 1, 2027. He proposes to bring nearly four and a half decades of proven dedication, innovation, and knowledge to the General Division.
Judge Camplese commenced his legal career in the Common Pleas Court as a law clerk for five former Common Pleas Court judges. As a former Prosecutor, his career was also influenced and informed by his friend, mentor, and predecessor in judicial office, the Honorable Charles (Chuck) G. Hague.
“Like Judge Hague, I too found myself drawn to the challenge of managing the pace, breadth, and complexity of our county’s busiest two courts. In 1993, I succeeded him as the judge of the Ashtabula Municipal Court. In 2015, I also succeeded him as judge of the Probate-Juvenile Division. It is by far the largest, most dynamic, and most complex division of the Common Pleas Court.”
“I have spent an entire career shifting the cost of Ashtabula County’s criminal justice solutions from the backs of local taxpayers to federal, state and private foundation funding sources. In 2025, our juvenile court successfully secured $1.3 million from within Ohio’s juvenile justice system.”
“The routine and reflexive jailing of low-level, non-violent substance abusers cripples our local tax base. The associated medical costs alone are devastating. For this reason, I will work to re-instate a Felony Drug Court in our General Division.”
Judge Camplese currently presides over our county’s oldest Specialized Treatment Docket, the Family Drug Court. He also founded our county’s nationally certified Family Resource Center, which operates entirely upon outside funding.
