JUDGE CHERYL L. WAITE
Judge Cheryl L. Waite was first elected to the Seventh District Court of Appeals in November, 1996. She has the distinction of being the first woman to ever serve on this bench. She has often served as Presiding Judge of the Court and has been selected several times to sit by assignment on the Ohio Supreme Court. In 2015 she was elected Chief Judge of the Ohio Courts of Appeal Judge’s Association for the 2016 term.
Judge Waite received her undergraduate degree with honors from Youngstown State University in 1982. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from Cleveland-Marshall School of Law, Cleveland State University in 1985 and was admitted to the bar that same year. She was admitted to practice in the Federal Court of Appeals in 1986 and the United States Supreme Court in 1992. Her memberships include the American Bar Association, the American Judges Association, Ohio State Bar Association, Youngstown State University Alumni Association, and the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi. She is also a member of the Ohio Courts of Appeals Judges Association, and she presided as Chief Judge of that organization in 2016.
She served for 12 years on the Board of the Youngstown YWCA and was the chair of its Personnel Committee for several years. In addition, she served as President of the YWCA’s Board during its multi-million dollar renovation project. She has served as President of the Board of Directors of Gateways Industries, Inc. after serving for 8 years on the Board of Directors of Gateways to Better Living, Inc.
In January of 2000, she was a recipient of the Mahoning Valley Women’s Political Caucus Judicial Excellence Award. In 2014 she was one of the first people inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown Hall of Fame in 2016. She became part of the Mahoning County Democratic Party Hall of Fame in 2017.
Judge Waite served on the Ohio State Bar Association’s Committee on the Independent Judiciary and the Unjust Criticism of Judges. Judge Waite was appointed by Chief Justice Moyer to serve as the Court of Appeals representative on the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission from 2000-2004. She currently sits on the Ohio Supreme Court Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure in Ohio Courts. She has also been selected by the Chief Justice on several occasions to sit by assignment on the Ohio Supreme Court, most recently on May 8, 2019.
After clerking for various law firms in both Cleveland and Youngstown during law school, Judge Waite was hired as an Assistant Law Director for the City of Youngstown in 1985, attaining the post of First Assistant. She also served as the City's acting Risk Manager beginning in 1991.
Judge Waite is married to Attorney Edwin Romero and they have two children, Alexis and Evan.