State ex rel. Emhoff v. Medina Cty. Bd. of Elections (Slip Opinion)

*25 *313 {¶ 1} To be eligible to serve as a judge on a court of common pleas, a person must satisfy certain requirements, among them that he or she "has, for a total of at least six years preceding the judge's appointment or commencement of the judge's term, engaged in the practice of law in this state." R.C. 2301.01. In these consolidated expedited election cases, relators, Allen Lowery and Mary E. Emhoff, seek writs of mandamus and/or prohibition to prevent respondent Heidi R. Carroll from appearing on the May 8, 2018 ballot as a candidate for the Republican Party nomination for judge in the…