Magistrate Clinger’s Bio

Magistrate Clinger has been practicing law for over thirty years and has served on the bench for over twenty-one years.  She graduated from Ohio Northern University Law School in 1986.  As well as earning her Juris Doctorate degree from Ohio Northern University, Magistrate Clinger has earned an Associate’s degree from Victor Valley College and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Dayton.

Magistrate Clinger began the practice of law in Morrow County, where she was born.  As a sole practitioner, Magistrate Clinger primarily represented clients in domestic and criminal cases. In 1991 she began serving as a magistrate for Judge Thomas Louden in the Delaware County Juvenile Court, where she heard delinquency, unruly, abuse, and neglect cases as well as custody, paternity, and child support matters.  In 1991, she returned to the private practice of law with an office in Delaware, Ohio.

In 2008, she returned to the bench as magistrate and staff attorney for Judge W. Duncan Whitney. During this time, she was primarily responsible for civil cases until 2014, when she began to also hear domestic cases. Since that time, Magistrate Clinger has continued to hear domestic cases for Judge David Gormley and now for Judge Randall Fuller.

In addition to the practice of law and serving on the bench as magistrate, Magistrate Clinger has served as an Acting Judge in the Morrow County Municipal Court, served as a board member on the Delaware Morrow County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, served on the Ohio State Bar Association’s Board of Governors and taught a criminal law course at Marion Technical College.  Before earning her license to practice law, she worked within the court system as a probation officer, bailiff, and deputy clerk. She also worked in a half-way house for criminal offenders while attending college.