Judge Roger E. Binette

Personal Information

Judge Roger E. Binette is married with three children, a number of grandchildren and a few great grandchildren. He is a 1979 graduate of Perkins High School; obtained an Associates of Arts Degree in 1983 from Firelands College; obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1986 from BGSU; and obtained a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Regent University School of Law, Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1990. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1991.

Legal Experience

Judge Binette began his journey through the criminal justice field over 40 years ago. At the age of 20, he became a Child Care Worker (Corrections Officer) at the Erie County Detention Home. At the age of 21, he was then promoted to Assistant Director of the Detention Home with duties that included assisting in the supervision of twenty-seven (27) staff members. At the age of 23, he became a Juvenile Probation Officer, which included truancy duties for the Sandusky City School System.

In 1991, after passing the Ohio Bar Exam, Judge Binette became an Erie County Assistant Prosecutor assigned to the Erie County Drug Task Force. During his tenure at the Drug Task Force, he garnered many accomplishments. He was actively involved in helping to make Erie County’s neighborhoods safer by participating in “board up” of local bars, apartment buildings, and crack houses where drugs were sold via Project Phoenix/Operation Crack Down.

He is the creator and author of Ohio’s Forfeiture Law Manual, a manual that was previously widely utilized by prosecutors within the State of Ohio. In addition, he has been a guest lecturer at numerous seminars around the State of Ohio. These included Forfeiture, Warrantless Search & Seizure, Trial Testimony, Trial Preparation and Drug Investigations in general.

In 1995, he was honored with a Certificate of Achievement for outstanding performance of duties as an Assistant Prosecutor. Additionally, the United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration honored him with a certificate of Appreciation for his Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Drug Law Enforcement.

Organizations

Judge Binette currently is, or has been in the past, a member of the Ohio Common Pleas Judge Association, Ohio Association of Domestic Relations Judges, Ohio Judicial College, Ohio Jury Management Association, Ohio Bar Association, and Ohio Bar.  Judge Binette is, and has been since 2006, a Judicial Board member of a Community Based Correctional Facility (CROSSWAEH).

Judicial Experience

In 2004, Judge Binette was the “first ever” judge to be elected to the newly created fourth judgeship in Erie County, Ohio. He was elected to a six-year term beginning in 2005.

In his first year on the Bench, the first jury trial he presided over was a “cold case”, which involved a rape that had occurred ten (10) years earlier. The jury convicted the defendant with DNA evidence being the lynchpin that linked the defendant to the crime, in spite of the fact that the victim was unable to identify her assailant. The Court of Appeals subsequently affirmed the conviction. Judge Binette was re-elected in 2010 for a second term beginning in 2011, 2016 for a third term beginning in 2017, and in 2022 for a fourth term beginning in 2023. During his terms on the bench Judge Binette has presided over 100 Jury / Bench trials, which include Criminal, Civil, Protection Order and Domestic Relation cases. The Criminal trials that he has presided over consist of cases of Murders, Rapes, Shootings, Burglaries, Assaults, Drugs, and a Criminal Gang case. The Civil trials consist of Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, Property / Construction Disputes, Contracts, Employer torts, and Fraud. Some of the Civil trials resulted in a verdict of over 6 million dollars against a local hospital, while another was for 1 million dollars against an insurance company for acting in Bad Faith. 
  
In addition to his Judicial duties at court, from 2012 to 2017 Judge Binette was the Administrative Judge over the Erie County Adult Probation. During that time Judge Binette, has been instrumental in securing numerous grants from the State of Ohio in an amount close to two million dollars. Those grants were used to expand the Adult Probation Department to include Probation Officers for Intensive Supervision, Electronic Monitoring, House Arrest, Thinking for Change, Community Service, and Non-Support of children cases. Judge Binette also took actions to provide better security at the Probation Department, including implementing some of the security measures recommended by the Ohio Supreme Court Security Service Division.  

As a former Probation Officer, and Assistant Prosecutor, Judge Binette has a desire to see defendants change their lives for the better to fulfill their purpose in life. He and his staff, through their actions strive to effect positive change in the lives of defendants, which will positively affect their families and this community

Conversely, Judge Binette believes that law-abiding citizens should not be made to feel like prisoners in their own homes out of fear of being victimized in the community. In that regard, he strongly believes that those citizens who deviate from a law-abiding lifestyle that impinges upon the security of other citizens should be held legally accountable for their actions through the Criminal Justice System.

For citizens seeking relief through our justice system by the filing of Civil, Domestic Relations, or Civil Protection actions, he believes those matters should be resolved in a timely manner, without lingering for years unanswered. Resolution of most cases hinges on the expeditious manner in which a Court sets filing dates, conducts Case Management Conferences and Pre-trials, rules on Motions, and establishes Trial Dates. Judge Binette and his Magistrates, have and will continue to make it a priority that these obligations are efficiently and expeditiously managed.