---
title: "Megan E. Shanahan | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/megan-e-shanahan"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-08-22"
---

# Megan E. Shanahan

Supreme Court of Ohio · Justice

## Profile

- Court: Supreme Court of Ohio
- State: Ohio
- Role: Justice
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-08-22

## Summary

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

## Biography

### Professional career

- The 165th Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, elected in 2024 and assuming office January 1, 2025, after a decade as a Hamilton County Common Pleas judge and earlier as a felony prosecutor
- She then held the role of a Hamilton County municipal court judge (elected 2011, re‐elected 2013)
- Began as an assistant prosecutor in Butler County, later becoming Supervising Attorney of the Felony Division

### Education

- University of Cincinnati College of Law — J.D. (2000)
- Kent State University — B.A. (1995)

### Additional information

- In 2022, she was the only Ohio judge to testify before the General Assembly in support of a constitutional amendment allowing judges to consider public safety in bail decisions; the amendment passed with 77% approval.
- In 2015, Governor John Kasich appointed her to the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, where she presided over some of Ohio’s most serious and complex cases for a decade
- In 2009, she received the Peggy Caldwell Award from Hope in Heels for her work with crime victims Supreme Court of Ohio
- Known for a transparent, no‐nonsense approach to justice.
- She is a member of the Federalist Society and has stated opposition to “legislating from the bench”
- focusing on violent crimes, especially those involving child victims.
- Birth place: Pennsylvania

## 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.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/judicial-system/supreme-court-of-ohio/justices-overview/)
- [Official roster](https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/judicial-system/supreme-court-of-ohio/justices-overview/)
- [Supreme Court of Ohio official judicial roster](https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/judicial-system/supreme-court-of-ohio/justices-overview/)
- [Virtual Public Access to Ohio Court Proceedings](https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/virtual-court/)
- [Wikidata: Megan E. Shanahan](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131092532)

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