Retiring Judge Thomakos ready for her next role
NEW PHILADELPHIA – Recently retired Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Elizabeth Thomakos says her successor has a challenging job ahead.
Thomakos retired last week after 27 years on the bench to dedicate more time to family and other pursuits.
“I’m ready to move on to a different phase of life and spend time with my mom and my grandchildren. I plan to continue doing some stage acting and maybe some screen acting. We’ll see.”
Her term is up in 2028, but she decided now was the right time to step down.
“It was really a combination of things. I lost my brother and I was dealing with his estate, and my mother had some health issues, and it just felt like it was time to focus more on the family. It put a lot of things in perspective.”
She is proud of her time, particularly helping to establish a drug court 20 years ago that directed offenders toward treatment and recovery. At least a dozen program graduates visited Thomakos during her final week on the bench.
“That was really gratifying. It was really wonderful to see the people who came back through my door voluntarily and wanted to share with me that they’ve had a lasting success with their recovery because of the program that I put in place. I always remind them, they did the work, not me, but it was nice to be able to provide that service to people, who are really willing to make a change in their life.”
However, she says the cases have gotten more difficult in recent years.
“When I was a new judge, we had bad checks and stolen credit cards and small thefts, and now it’s not unusual for me to see a list of new indictments that includes felonious assaults, and burglaries, and home invasions, and injuries to people. Domestic violence has increased. People seeking protection orders has over taken a large part of our domestic court… It’s disheartening to see that side of things.”
And she knows the next Common Pleas Court Judge will need help to cope with the pain and heartbreak that crosses in front of the bench.
“I would say do not do this job without a relationship with your lord. I firmly believe that my ability to manage the stress of this job, the sadness of this job is directly related to my prayer life and my relationship with Jesus. I think it’s not realistic to believe you can do a job like this in your own strength, because everybody who comes through the door is, um, dealing with some kind of pain… Everybody who walks through here is dealing with something difficult and painful and big in their life. And so for me, if I’m giving someone advice – and I have given this advice to other judges – you really need to have that connection with a greater power because it’s not something to do in your own strength.”
Retired Judge Ed O’Farrell will temporarily fill in until Governor Mike DeWine appoints a replacement. The appointed judge would then eventually have to run in an upcoming election to retain the seat.
Thomakos says her next acting gig is in the Little Theatre of Tuscarawas County’s production of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” which opens Feb. 27.