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Judge J. Jeffrey Benson became the Ross County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge on February 9, 2015. Prior to his election to the bench, Judge Benson was a self-employed trial lawyer in Ross County for over thirty-three years. He received his Law Degree from Capital University in 1982 after graduating from Otterbein University in 1979. Judge Benson previously served three years as an Assistant Ross County Prosecuting Attorney, seven years as a member of the Chillicothe City Council, and eight years as a member of the Chillicothe City School District Board of Education. He is married to Shawn T. (Stephens) Benson and the proud father of four (4) boys. Judge Benson started the Family Dependency Treatment Court on May 5, 2017, the CASA Program on July 1, 2017 and the AOT Program in 2019.

Magistrate James S. Szorady Jr.

Magistrate Jennifer L. Ater

James S. Szorady, Jr has been serving as a Magistrate in the Probate/Juvenile Division of the Ross County Court of Common Pleas since his appointment in October of 2021. Prior to serving as Magistrate, Mr. Szorady was an attorney for eight years at the Ohio Public Defender’s Office serving six of those years as Supervising Attorney. Mr. Szorady also previously served as Assistant Prosecutor at the Chillicothe Law Director’s Office, an Associate Attorney at the Villarreal Law Firm and an Associate Attorney at the Hartory Law Office in Mentor, Ohio. Mr. Szorady received his B.A. in Telecommunications from Bowling Green State University in 2005 and his J.D. from Capital University in 2008. He originally is from Northeast Ohio and graduated from Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Ohio in 2001. He is a member of the Ross County Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association and Ohio Magistrate's Association. He currently serves on the board at the Ross County YMCA and is a member of Chillicothe Rotary.

Jennifer L. Ater has been serving as a Magistrate in the Probate/Juvenile Division and the General/Domestic Division and of the Ross County Court of Common Pleas since her appointment in October 2023. She graduated from Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati in 1988, and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Miami University in 1992. She obtained her Juris Doctorate Degree from Case Western Reserve School of Law in Cleveland in 1995. Magistrate Ater served as an Assistant Prosecutor with the Ross County Prosecutor’s Office for 17 years, and operated a private law practice for over 25 years encompassing domestic relations, estate planning, property and probate law. Magistrate Ater is a past Board Member of the Ross County Bar Association, Junior Civic League, Pump House Center for the Arts, and was a Junior Achievement Advisor. She currently serves on the Board of the Chillicothe Ross Community Foundation and Unioto School Soccer Boosters. She is a member of the Ross County Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association and Ohio Magistrate’s Association.

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