Lucas County Common Pleas Court
4th Floor – Courtroom #9 
700 Adams St., Toledo, OH 43604-5678

Criminal Bailiff, Jodi Radsick – (419) 213-4579
Civil Bailiff, Kierra Stephens – (419) 213-4578

Tenure = 2019 – Present
Term ends = 2030

Judge Joe McNamara is a native Toledoan. He is the son of a retired Lucas County Prosecutor and a deceased local elected official. He earned his B.A. in English with distinction from the University of Michigan. Judge McNamara then completed the Foundations of the Anglo-American Legal System program at Oxford University. He earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law where he was the Senior Development Editor for the NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy.

Judge McNamara returned to Toledo after law school to begin his career at a law firm that concentrated on civil litigation. In 2006, he was first elected to Toledo City Council and served for seven years. He was twice elected President by his colleagues and was a very active legislator. On council, he sponsored and passed many pieces of legislation including policies to increase sustainability, help victims of human trafficking and increase access to the courts for the indigent.

After his time on Toledo City Council, he served as an Assistant Law Director for the City of Toledo under two Administrations. He assisted the city in successfully negotiating various regional service agreements. He also represented the City before various courts including the Ohio Supreme Court in defending the City’s use of home rule power. He also teaches Local Government Law at the University of Toledo, College of Law.

Judge McNamara was first elected to the Lucas County Common Pleas Court, General Division, in 2018 and re-elected in 2024. In addition to handling criminal and civil cases, he also serves as one of the two commercial docket judges.