Denise Nancy Rini

I was elected in November 2012 and was seated on January 1, 2013 as a Judge in Juvenile Court. My term ended on December 31, 2018.

I am a lifelong resident of the Cuyahoga County area, growing up in Maple Heights until the age of 12, and moved to Lyndhurst. I attended public school, graduating from Brush High School in 1975. I have a daughter and understand the difficulty of raising a child as a single parent. After Michelle graduated from college, I pursued a degree at Baldwin Wallace University and earned a degree in Human Services while working as a private investigator and a freelance designer in advertising. Previously, I was an Advertising Director at a financial institution for 12 years, and at the age of 40, began law school with the intention of practicing juvenile and family law.

I served on the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Guardian ad Litem Advisory Board from 2004 to 2016 and was a member of the Steering Committee
forming a CASA program, both of which merged to form the Child and Family Advocates of Cuyahoga County. This organization protects the needs of children in
foster care, whose numbers are at an all-time high due to the drug epidemic. Most recently, I was nominated as a Board Member of the Ohio Association of
Juvenile Court Judges. 

Since taking the bench, I have worked to implement various initiatives focusing on the needs of the community, strengthening families, and providing
services to the children of Cuyahoga County, such as Warrant Recall Fridays and CASA of Cuyahoga County.

Moreover, I have taken on additional duties as the jurist for the Teen Drug Court, Safe Harbor Docket and supervises the Magistrate for Reentry Court.
I have spent my entire legal career focusing on Family issues advocating for children and families of Cuyahoga County.