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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Frank Fregiato is closing out a long career on the bench, having announced his retirement effective June 30.
Having served as common pleas judge since 2013 and as presiding judge of the court since 2014, Fregiato has been on medical leave since the end of February. His cases are being handled by retired Judge John Solovan. Fregiato's position will be filled by an appointment by Gov. Mike DeWine, who is expected to take recommendations from the local Republican Party.
A lifelong Belmont County resident, Fregiato grew up in Bridgeport and graduated from Martins Ferry High School. He earned his law degree from Ohio State University, graduating in the top 5 percent of his class. Fregiato was the Northern Division County Court Judge from 1997-2013 and a former partner in the law firm of Fregiato, Myser and Davies from 1977-2013.
Shortly after taking the bench at common pleas court, Fregiato received the Supreme Court Justice Recognition for his elimination of prior delinquent dockets in 2014. He also ran the county drug court and has been active in community initiatives such as spearheading the Belmont County Schools Staying Clean Club Car, Bike and Truck Show, which raises funds and awareness for drug prevention among young people.
Fregiato served as special counsel to the attorney general and is admitted before all Ohio courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court, the federal district court, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He had held prominent positions in the Ohio State and Belmont County Bar Associations, the Ohio State Banking Committee and Ohio State Bar Ethics Committee. He is a former member of the Bridgeport and St. Clairsville chambers of commerce and is a member of the Bellaire Sons of Italy and its cultural committee.
He is a member of the St. Clairsville Rotary Club and instituted a countywide program to provide dictionaries to all third-graders. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the American Council of Exercise Certified Personal Trainers and the Hendrysburg Masons.
He is the author of "A Brief History of Italy," a comprehensive essay from pre-Roman times to the modern era. He also authored "The Legend," a lead article in the International GTO magazine. He regularly writes his column, "Quarter Mile with the Judge," for the car magazines "The Legend" and "Smoke Signals."
As Northern Division judge, he established the "Live Court to our High Schools" program for 16 years.
He is a member of St. Mary Catholic Church in St. Clairsville.
He is closing his career with a "very high rating" in legal ability and ethical standards for 2023 from Martin-Dale Hubbel.
According to a letter from his office, he is retiring to Cincinnati to enjoy his hobbies of history, personal training, the Italian language and culture, the guitar and classic cars.
Court officials and those who have worked with Fregiato commended his contributions.
Belmont County Commissioner Josh Meyer said the board often worked with Fregiato on court budgetary matters and on committees.
"He was always a pleasure to work with and one of the pillars in the community, somebody of great stature within the county and someone who was very well respected. I have a great respect for him and sad to hear that he's retiring but happy for him. He will certainly be missed, that's for sure," Meyer said.
Commissioner J.P. Dutton commended Fregiato's contributions.
"Judge Fregiato's impact on Belmont County is immeasurable, as his service to our community has extended well beyond his role as judge. He continues to be a tremendous example to all elected officials as a standard for public service in an official capacity as well as a volunteer for many worthy causes. It has been extremely rewarding working with him on issues important to Belmont County. His absence will be certainly noticed and difficult to replace."
Commissioner Jerry Echemann was acquainted with Fregiato both before and after he wa elected to the board and recalled the judge's lively style on the bench.
"My association with him began decades ago, when he was a divisional court judge in Martins Ferry and I was a member of the media," Echemann said. "I would often be in his courtroom while he was holding court, and as a reporter, you always wanted to go in with Judge Fregiato because he was very stern with the defendants and would normally give you some good sound for a television story.
"I would never have dreamed back in those days that I would actually be working in the courthouse with him as an elected official," Echemann said.
He noted that Fregiato is in his last term, since according to Ohio's constitution an individual age 70 or older is not eligible for election to a judicial office. Common pleas judges serve terms of six years. Public records indicate that Fregiato is 70.
"We were certainly hoping that he would be able to finish out his final term," he said. "He was always a great guy, a friendly guy, did things for the community."
Echemann added that he was proud to be sworn in by Fregiato in 2018 after his own election.
"That was a big day for me and my two sons, to stand there in his courtroom and have him give me the oath of office," he said. "We were hoping of course that he would make a recovery well enough and come back and sit on the court. I'm sorry to hear it. He'll be hard to replace."
David Jones, chairman of the Belmont County Republican Party, said the party will submit candidates to the governor when Fregiato's retirement is official.
"He has to resign through the Supreme Court," Jones said. "After he has officially resigned and so on, we submit names to the governor, and I don't know who that's going to be."
He said Fregiato is a valuable member of the community.
"I wish he wasn't going to resign, but I think he feels like maybe he needs to, and that's his decision," Jones said. "He'll be hard to replace, but I'm sure there's other people out there who can do a good job, too."