Judge Kim A. Browne was appointed then elected Judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations and Juvenile Division in 2002. She was re-elected in 2004 and 2010, fulfilling consecutive six-year terms. Judge Browne has also been elected as the Court's Administrative Judge and Lead Juvenile Judge. Additionally, Judge Browne has served as the Chair of the Franklin County Juvenile Justice Community Planning Initiative/JDAI since March 2009. Since January of 2001, Judge Browne has served as an Adjunct Professor for Ohio Dominican University (ODU). At ODU, she has taught the Legal Environment of Business, Human Resources Management, Labor Relations and Business Law for ODU’s Master, Bachelor of Science and Associate degree programs.

 

Previous to her 2002 appointment to the bench, Judge Browne worked as an Associate Attorney with the law firm of Maguire & Schneider, LLP. Immediately prior, Judge Browne served as the Director of Legal Operations for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (OBWC). During her six-year tenure with OBWC, she also served as the Bureau's Director of Employee and Labor Relations and as a State Workplace Mediator. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services/Office of Collective Bargaining (OCB) and for the Ohio Civil Service Employees’ Association (OCSEA). Judge Browne graduated from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law with a Juris Doctorate degree in 1993. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1990.

 

Judge Browne has a long legacy of community service which began in high school where she (as Student BodyPresident of Riverside High School) successfully co-chaired the Painesville Township Schools 1984 tax levy issue and served as a camp counselor for 6th graders. While attending the University of Cincinnati, she was selected as a member of Alpha Lambda Delta honor society and served as a team tutor/mentor for the mens’ football and baseball teams. In law school, she volunteered for VITA on an annual basis, was a member of Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity and served (through election) as a member of Student Government. As an aspiring attorney, she chaired the 191st Engineer Co. Family Support Group and provided pro bono legal services to indigent citizens through the Columbus Bar Association’s Homeless Project and served as a member of Governor Taft’s Pro Bono Implementation Policy Committee.

 

Organizations dedicated to the development and advocacy of children and women  have always been her passion. Accordingly, during her legal career, Judge Browne has participated in the DAS Adopt-A-School Project, served as a member or officer of a number of philanthropic organizations such as Women-to-Women Business Networking/Mentoring, Directions for Youth and Families, Art For A Child's Safe America Foundation, The Lighthouse Project and The Community Collaboration Board. At present, she oversees the Court’s Judicial Extern program in collaboration with OSU Moritz College of Law and Capital University College of Law as well as co-Chairs the Court's Bring Your Child to Work Day program. She has previously served as a member of the Columbus Coalition against Family Violence Taskforce, Juvenile Sub-Committee and served on the Executive Committee of the Ohio Association of Domestic Relations Judges and as a member of the Ohio Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee. In 2003, she proposed legislation (sponsored by then State Rep. Jim Hughes) to address the safety of children in automobiles (HB 244). Presently, Judge Browne is a member of the National Council of Juvenile/Family Court Judges, Ohio Association of Domestic Relations Judges, Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges, Ohio Women's Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the John Mercer Langston Bar Association and the Columbus Bar Association.

 

During her tenure on the bench, Judge Browne has created innovative programs to educate and inspire youth to meet and/or exceed their own ambitions, such as the Mini-Moot Court Competition for middle and high school-age children and the All Rize College Tour for at-risk youth. Additionally, Judge Browne serves as the Legal Advisor for the Woodward Park Middle School OCLRE mock trial team.

 

Judge Browne is happily married to her husband of nearly 25 years, Steven. Steven, who recently retired after 31 years in the Ohio Army National Guard, is a BRIGHT New Leaders for Ohio Schools Fellow pursuing an Executive MBA at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business; he currently serves as a high school Assistant Principal. The Browne’s are long-time residents of the Gahanna/New Albany area of Franklin County and have two daughters.

 

Based upon her years of dedicated service to the people of Franklin County, Judge Browne enjoyed the support of a diverse number of organizations during the last election cycle, including: the Baptist Ministerial Alliance, the Baptist Pastors' Conference, Carpenter's Local Union #200, the Central Ohio Association for Justice, the Central Ohio Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the Columbus/Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council, The Columbus Dispatch, the Columbus Education Association (Teachers for Better Schools), the Columbus Fire Fighters Union, Local 67, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Capital City Lodge #9, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, the Ohio Coalition of Concerned Black Citizens, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA), the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local Union No. 24 and the TEAMSTERS Ohio D.R.I.V.E.