CLEVELAND, Ohio — Robert Berger, a retired Portage County jurist, was assigned Monday to replace Geauga County Judge Timothy Grendell, who was suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court for 18 months and ordered off the bench without pay.

The justices said a year of the suspension would be dropped if Grendell remains in good standing. That means he could return to the bench in May and serve out the last months of his term, which ends in February 2027.

Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy appointed Berger, who served on the Portage County probate and juvenile court bench, to fill in as a visiting judge. He retired in 2021, but he has spent time as a visiting jurist in courts across Northeast Ohio, and he has worked in Geauga County, as well.

“They have a great staff, and I think we’ll do well together,

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