---
title: "Jennifer Petrella | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/jennifer-petrella"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-07-27"
---

# Jennifer Petrella

Montgomery Co. Domestic Relations Court · Judge

## Profile

- Court: Montgomery Co. Domestic Relations Court
- State: Ohio
- Role: Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-27

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### remote hearing exhibits

Scope: statewide

Ohio's statewide virtual-court guidance tells courts to include instructions for submitting exhibits or notifying the court of witnesses when remote-hearing information is sent to participants.

Evidence excerpt: Instructions for submitting exhibits or notifying the court of witnesses.

[Virtual Public Access to Ohio Court Proceedings](https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/virtual-court/)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### remote hearing ground rules

Scope: statewide

Ohio's statewide virtual-court guidance recommends advance ground rules for documents, exhibits, screen sharing, and pre-marking exhibits for remote hearings.

Evidence excerpt: Documents: Share any documents/exhibits that will be reviewed in advance. Use the share screen function while documents are being discussed during the hearing. Request that the documents are pre-marked for exhibit purposes.

[Virtual Public Access to Ohio Court Proceedings](https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/virtual-court/)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### remote recording

Scope: statewide

Ohio's statewide virtual-court guidance states that litigants, attorneys, and the public should be instructed not to record the hearing.

Evidence excerpt: The court should instruct the litigants, attorneys, and the public to not record the hearing.

[Virtual Public Access to Ohio Court Proceedings](https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/virtual-court/)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.ohiojudges.org/directory/ojc-directory/)
- [Official roster](https://www.ohiojudges.org/directory/ojc-directory/)
- [Ohio Judicial Conference Directory official judicial roster](https://www.ohiojudges.org/directory/ojc-directory/)
- [Virtual Public Access to Ohio Court Proceedings](https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/virtual-court/)

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## Biography

### Professional career

- 2015–Present: Montgomery County Domestic Relations Court — Court Administrator, part-time magistrate, and judge
- Jennifer A. Petrella serves as a Judge of the Montgomery County Domestic Relations Court and was appointed by Governor Mike Dewine on June 3, 2024, following her victory in the March 2024 primary
- Judge Jennifer A. Petrella is a Montgomery County, Ohio Domestic Relations Court judge, appointed in June 2024 after winning the 2024 primary, and is also an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton School of Law

### Education



### Additional information

- She has also held the role of Certified Court Manager by the National Center for State Courts and is active in multiple judicial and community organizations
- She succeeds Judge Denise L. Cross, who stepped down early.
- She has stated that serving on the bench is “a true honor” and that she dedicates herself daily to providing justice to the best of her abilities
- Petrella is a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Education Committee and Time Guidelines Workgroup, trustee of the Montgomery County Juvenile Court Foundation, and active in the Dayton Bar Association and Ohio State Bar Association