GARY F. WERNER was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a 1979 graduate of Brunswick High School. He was orignally elected to the bench in the Medina Municipal Court in 2017 and was recently re-elected in November 2023. He is serving in his second term.
Judge Werner earned a B.A. in economics, summa cum laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles, a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, and he is a Phi Beta Kappa member. Judge Werner was in private law practice for approximately 23 years before taking the bench. He has been licensed to practice in both California and Ohio, and has litigated matters in both states, before federal and state courts, at the trial and appellate levels. Judge Werner previously served in elected office in the City of Brunswick, Ohio as its Mayor (2010-2013), as a member of Council (2004-2009), and by appointment on its Board of Zoning Appeals.
Judge Werner is a faculty member of the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Judial College. He presents regularly at judicial conferences on varous legal topics. During his years in practice, Judge Werner also routinely presented on various legal topics at seminars sponsored by the Ohio Bar Association, CLE International, and the National Business Institute. In December 2021, Judge Werner and his team obtained the Supreme Court of Ohio’s certification to operate a Veterans Treatment Court, which they have dubbed their “Valor Court.” It is the State of Ohio’s 29th such certified “specialized docket” for veterans. Valor Court assists justice-involved veterans by involving them in an intensive, year-long rehabilitative program and by partnering them with volunteer Mentors who themselves are veterans. Valor Court succeeds by integrating veterans with the network of resources and support agencies available to all veterans; by guiding veterans to qualified professionals to address their individual substance and mental health challenges; and by reconnecting them with their families and our community. It is Medina County’s only Veterans Treatment Court.
