T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Court Administrator Jennifer Shunk, from left, will be retiring in August after 33 years of service. Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Al Davies announced Thursday that Juvenile and Probate Court Case Manager Dave Carter will be replacing Shunk.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — After 33 years of service in the Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Court, Administrator Jennifer Shunk is retiring.

Shunk was hired in June 1992 by the late John “Jack” Justin Malik Jr. as a probation officer. She will step down Aug. 1.

“In 2006, I stepped into this role, and then the Ohio Supreme Court offered certification nationally,” Shunk said. “So in 2010, I became a certified court manager, and in 2013, I became a certified court executive, which is a national recognition.”

Court Case Manager Dave Carter will replace Shunk. Juvenile and Probate Judge Al Davies said Shunk recommended Carter as her replacement, and he couldn’t imagine a better fit.

“She’s irreplaceable, but Dave Carter is the closest thing for replacing Jen Shunk. There’s no doubt about that,” Davies said. “All of my staff are bright, intelligent, articulate, knowledgeable, and he’s all of that. I’ve observed his work ethic for the past seven years that I’ve been here. It’s excellent. He has a dedication to the court, dedication to children and families. And he’s recommended by Jen, so, I mean, that’s a big recommendation, obviously coming from her.”

The court administrator handles various duties such as human resources, payroll, grants, finances, maintaining updates within the legislature, oversight of all of the operations, case flow, as well as making sure that the court is being transparent with the public.

“A lot of people don’t realize everything that we do in the juvenile probate world, and it’s a pretty broad scope,” Shunk said. “There’s a lot of different case types and a lot of things that we handle here with an emphasis on family and children. We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can, especially for the children in custody, adoption or in the child welfare cases. We want to make sure that we’re serving them in the most fair and appropriate way.

“I always encourage everybody to keep that in the back of their minds, that every action, every conversation, everything you do, you’re representing something way bigger than we are,” she added. “You represent the judiciary on a much bigger level than yourself. It’s important to portray that in an appropriate, fair, accountable way, with integrity. And if we can do that, then I feel like we’re going to be successful. We’ve had a lot of success over the years. A lot of courts have turned to our staff, who have made a difference, whether it be programs such as CrossFit or C-CAP, there’s always something going on in somebody’s life that we can hopefully have a positive impact on.”

Davies said he believes Shunk is being humble but deserves more recognition for the impact she’s had on the community. Among her contributions have been serving as the court custody manager, being involved in the Spirit Program for at-risk females on probation and supervising the juvenile drug court program. She also has been a primary member of the Family and Children First Council.

Shunk earned the Court Service Award from the Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges and was the Child Advocate of the Year for Belmont County in 2011.

“She’s played an important role in the creation and development of our CrossFit for Change program as well as our Belmont County Schools Staying Clean program,” Davies said. “She’s been instrumental in the implementation of many of our court updates and many of our technological updates. We’re a small county, but we’re one of the most progressive counties in regards to technology. We’re right up there with all the major metropolitan areas, if not maybe even ahead of them on some matters.

“She served on the Belmont County Human Services Advisory Board in the past. She’s also served or participated in Big Brothers and Big Sisters when that was in operation, and she completed foster parent training and has actually fostered a youth,” he added.

Davies said that not only has Shunk accomplished many achievements at the local level for children and families, but she has been very active at the state level in serving on various committees and work groups with the Department of Youth Services. He said he has relied on her keen insight, experience and knowledge, and she always has a willingness to assist.