Timothy Grendell is back on the bench in Geauga County after serving a six-month suspension by the Ohio Disciplinary Counsel for violating professional conduct policies stemming from his decision to put two teens in juvenile detention for refusing to visit their father.
Grendell, who is 73, will serve out the remainder of his term as probate and juvenile court judge. He was initially given an 18-month suspension but the Ohio Supreme Court signed off on his reinstatement after he completed continuing education and training.
He “has not engaged in any further misconduct during his six-month suspension,” Stephen Funk, Grendell’s attorney, wrote in an application for reinstatement on May 21.
Grendell “has fully complied with all of the terms of the court’s suspension order,” it reads.
Throughout the years of accusations, Grendell maintained that he was in the judicial right when both deciding to detain the two teens refusing to see their father and speaking about the manner publicly, which he long insisted was impartial.
A 61-page complaint from the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct painted Grendell as a judge that overstepped the rules.
“Our court has disciplined rogue judges in the past,” it read. “But this state has never seen a judge inflict pain and suffering on two innocent, young, and vulnerable children, while claiming to have acted in their best interests.”
In an interview with Fox 8’s I-Team, Grendell asserted to reporters he “followed the law to at.”
“I’m not a bully,” he said. “You sometimes have to take a tough position. You have to protect the children by trying to rein in the parents. That’s not being a bully. That’s called being a judge.”
