Judge Darrel Bilancini Announces Bid for Judgeship in the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas

Judge Darrel Bilancini of the Avon Lake Municipal Court has announced that he will seek the judgeship in the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas currently held by Judge Mark Betleski, who has said he will not seek reelection when his term ends in December 2022.

Judge Bilancini, born in Lorain where he lived for 32 years, is the son of Jacqueline Bilancini and former Lorain firefighter, John Bilancini, and brother of nine siblings (John Bilancini, Cheryl Verespe (dec), Dale Bilancini, Jim Bilancini, Beverly Vitelli, Diane Smith (dec), Susan Kutting, Ann Marie Streza, and Kathy Ternes).

Bilancini attended Lorain St. Mary grade and high school and graduated (in the second graduating class) from Lorain Catholic High School in 1971. While attending John Carroll University (1971-1975) he worked summers at Lorain U.S. Steel in the coke plant and docks. During law school at Cleveland Marshall College of Law (1975-1978) he maintained employment at the law departments of the City of Lorain and City of Cleveland.

From 1981 to 2011, Bilancini joined his long-time law partner, Jerry Savoy, in a civil litigation practice centered in downtown Elyria. For 30 years they participated in a trial practice in multiple county common pleas courts throughout Northeast Ohio.

Bilancini was first elected as part-time judge of the Avon Lake Municipal Court in 2005 and reelected to two six-year terms in 2011 and 2017. The municipal judge position became full-time in 2014.

In addition to his elected judicial experience, Bilancini has served as a referee in the Lorain County Juvenile Court (1979-1981), acting magistrate in the Elyria Municipal Court (2004-2005), and for over 10 years as mediator and arbitrator in the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas general division.

Judge Bilancini is very active in his community where he has served on the 2004 Avon Lake Charter Review Committee, as a cast member for seven shows of the non-profit community theater group – Mighty Goliath Productions, in a five-year term on the board of Avon/Avon Lake Community Resource Services, as a 17-year member and 8-year board member of the Avon Lake Kiwanis Club, for 14 years with the Avon Lake Soccer Association, and as a volunteer head-coach for 14 years in both the Avon Lake Softball League and St. Joseph CYO girls basketball teams.

Bilancini has devoted service time to his parish, Avon Lake St. Joseph Catholic Church, where in 1999 as a member of the St. Joseph Building Committee he helped plan the construction of their new church. He has served for over 30 years as a minister of Holy Communion and as a member and soloist in their adult choir.

In 2008 Bilancini initiated an ongoing parish ministry at St. Joseph that video-records weekly masses to play daily on local cable television.  Since March 2020, at the beginning of the Covid19 shutdown at St. Joseph, that three-person ministry (including Bilancini, John Guzik and Tom Selders) has been in place to internet livestream all of the daily and weekend masses to its parishioners and others.

Bilancini and his wife of 42 years, Cindy (Kirchner), a registered nurse, have three children.

Although his campaign committee’s fundraising activity will not begin until November 2021 for a primary election in May 2022, the “Bilancini for Judge” committee requests friends and supporters of Judge Bilancini to go to the campaign’s website – BilanciniForJudge.com – for information on how you can help with the campaign.