---
title: "Leah M. Dinkelacker | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/leah-m-dinkelacker"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-07-27"
---

# Leah M. Dinkelacker

Hamilton Co. Common Pleas Court · Common Pleas Judge

## Profile

- Court: Hamilton Co. Common Pleas Court
- State: Ohio
- Role: Common Pleas 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

- Judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, General Division in Ohio, appointed in March 2025 by Governor Mike DeWine to replace Justice Megan E. Shanahan
- Before becoming a judge, Dinkelacker held the role of Assistant Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney for nearly 13 years (2012–2025), working in the Juvenile, Municipal, and Felony divisions and serving as Assistant Chief of the Juvenile Division for about two years.

### Education



### Additional information

- Her legal career includes extensive trial experience and familiarity with both criminal and civil procedures
- She also acted as a constable for a judge, managing the civil docket.
- Judge Dinkelacker presides over criminal and civil cases in Hamilton County’s Common Pleas Court, including serious felony trials such as murder, rape, felonious assault, robbery, domestic violence, and OVI cases.
- She is a member of Our Lady of the Visitation Parish and serves on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism
- She has been endorsed by local law enforcement groups and the Cincinnati Bar Association