Judge, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, Drug Court

Nicole L. Sanders has presided over Hamilton County's Drug Court, which she describes as the only full-time statutorily created drug court in Ohio, since taking the bench on January 2, 2021 after winning election in November 2020³⁵². She was a Hamilton County Juvenile Court magistrate from 2013 and earlier an assistant city prosecutor and assistant city solicitor for Cincinnati³. She is unopposed on the November 3, 2026 ballot¹. Ohio prints no party next to judicial candidates on the general election ballot, so this race is nonpartisan on the ballot.

• Judge, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, Drug Court, since January 2021; the Board of Elections lists her term as January 3, 2021 through January 2, 2027³²
• Magistrate, Hamilton County Juvenile Court, appointed April 2013³
• Assistant City Prosecutor and Assistant City Solicitor, City of Cincinnati; chief counsel of a division in the city Law Department; prosecutor in the Municipal Court's Mental Health Court docket³
• JD, University of Cincinnati College of Law; BS, University of Cincinnati³
• Elected in November 2020, defeating incumbent Judge Kim Wilson Burke, and took the bench January 2, 2021⁵³. Nominated in the Democratic primary and unopposed for re-election in 2026¹⁶.
• Bar poll: Cincinnati Bar Association 2026 Hamilton County Judicial Candidate Poll. The CBA describes it as a confidential, nonpartisan survey sent to its active attorney members (the results sheet says 2,500 members of the Cincinnati legal community); 170 members responded, rating only candidates they had contact with in the past four years, on six categories, with a stated margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. It is a non-binding member survey of attorney opinion, not an endorsement or a rating by the bar association. For Nicole L. Sanders, 44 respondents reported contact. Of those, the share rating the candidate Excellent: administrative diligence 25%, communication skills 25%, community engagement 43%, integrity/impartiality/objectivity 34%, legal experience 32%, professionalism/temperament 32%. The share rating Below Average, in the same order: 16%, 25%, 18%, 27%, 20%, 39%⁷⁸.