Photo provided Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan has announced his candidacy for Belmont County Court of Common Pleas Judge.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan recently announced his candidacy to be the next Belmont County Court of Common Pleas Judge.

After five years as the county prosecutor and another twenty-five years as an assistant prosecutor, acting judge and civil litigator, Flanagan said he is now seeking to serve this county as its next common pleas court judge.

“In 2020, I asked the voters of Belmont County to allow me to serve as their prosecutor. The continued litigation experience and my duties as Belmont County Prosecutor have now prepared me to effectively serve as common pleas court judge, a position that will be vacated by the Honorable John Vavra,” Flanagan said. “It is necessary to have experience in trial work, the kind of experience that I bring as a result of my previous positions.”

Flanagan, a lifelong resident of Belmont County, graduated from St. John High School and received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State. He received his law degree in 1994 from the University of Toledo College of Law.

His legal career began in Belmont County working for Prosecutor Frank Pierce and Chief Assistant Prosecutor Bob Quirk – first as a clerk during law school and then as an assistant prosecutor.

It was there that Flanagan first started earning criminal trial experience. While at the office, Flanagan assisted with the prosecutions of both Nathan Brooks and Nawaz Ahmed, two notorious homicide cases which garnered national attention.

Flanagan said that he is still actively involved with both of these cases in various court proceedings – whether it was arguing against parole for Brooks or other hearings for Ahmed who is currently on death row.

He added that he had the privilege to work on one of the first DNA cases submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation during the early part of his legal career.

It was during this time that Flanagan was named as an Assistant Prosecutor of the Year in Ohio by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

In private practice following his first stint as an assistant prosecutor, Flanagan was associated with two area law firms. The first was Cassidy, Myers, Cogan, Voegelin & Tennant followed by Gold, Khourey & Turak.

“The attorneys in those firms were exceptional at their craft and fought hard for their clients. It was my honor to represent the people of the Ohio Valley while with those firms, assisting individuals who were injured or had been the victim of employment discrimination,” Flanagan said.

Through years of civil trial work, Flanagan continued to serve Belmont County as a special prosecutor at the request of then-Prosecutor Chris Berhalter in 2005.

“I was honored to be chosen to handle those trials for his office including the homicide prosecution of Leroy Charley,” Flanagan said.

He added that the Charley case was notable because it was the first known bitemark case in Belmont County history. Both sides utilized world renowned experts in the bitemark field. Flanagan said that in 2025, as prosecutor, he submitted a letter to the parole board successfully urging that Charley’s parole be denied.

From 2001-2013, Flanagan served as an acting judge in all three county courts of Belmont County.

“That was an incredible experience. It showed me that no two cases were alike. Each individual that comes before the court is different and each case deserves to be decided on its own merits,” he said. “The judges that I worked for during that time gave me the freedom to decide the cases as I deemed appropriate. I appreciated the opportunity and their guidance.

“In 2013, when Judge Fregiato transferred to the common pleas court bench, I was able to serve exclusively as his acting judge in county court handling his entire docket until a replacement judge could be named. I credit those experiences for preparing me for the position that I now seek.”

In addition to the courtroom, Flanagan also served as an adjunct professor at Belmont College and as an instructor at the Mid-Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.

“Working with individuals who wanted to be able to pursue careers in the criminal justice field has been one of the highlights of my time as an attorney,” Flanagan said. “Not only have I been able to teach these individuals about the law, but I have also had the good fortune of later being able to work with many of them in their chosen fields.”

In 2013, Flanagan returned to the prosecutor’s office as Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Prosecutor Daniel Fry. He immediately found himself trying the highly publicized homicide cases of Devin Fuller, Joseph Barton and David Kinney – with the Kinney case being the subject of multiple national true crime shows, including Dateline.

After serving as the chief assistant prosecutor for eight years, Flanagan was elected as prosecutor in 2021. Now in his second term, Flanagan said that he and his coworkers, with the assistance and support of the commissioners – both former and current – have been able to grow the office commensurate with the caseload.

“We have added an additional victim representative to meet the needs of those that have had injustices perpetrated against them in addition to an appellate and full-time civil division to provide legal guidance to the county,” Flanagan said. “We’ve also completely transformed the case management system so that our cases come to us electronically and accessible at any time and from anywhere. This allows our prosecutors to assist and guide our law enforcement partners, as needed, including after hours.”

Flanagan added that over the past three decades, he has had the honor of working for Belmont County residents as their prosecutor, assistant prosecutor, acting judge and civil litigator.

He said that the countless hours trying cases and practicing before the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas and its judges have prepared him to seek the position.

“The courtroom is a unique place. It demands experience and knowledge that only comes through trying cases and being involved in the day-to-day operation of the court,” Flanagan said. “I have been fortunate that my career has always centered around a courtroom. It is this experience that I bring to the table and do humbly ask that I be able to further utilize that experience as the next Belmont County Common Pleas Court Judge.”