Tuscarawas County Assistant Prosecutor Amanda Miller and Magistrate Adam Wilgus are competing for the Republican nomination in March for the chance to become the county's next Juvenile and Probate Court judge. 

Two seeking Republican nomination for juvenile, probate court judge

NEW PHILADELPHIA (Tusco TV) - Two familiar faces at the Tuscarawas County Courthouse are making a bid to become the county’s next Juvenile and Probate Court judge. 

Assistant Prosecutor Amanda Miller and Magistrate Adam Wilgus are both seeking the Republican nomination in next year’s primary election in hopes of going on to replace Judge Linda Kate when she steps down at the start of 2021. 

Miller has been an assistant prosecutor for the last decade and handles roughly a third of the county's juvenile cases. She spent two years before that as a Tuscarawas County juvenile public defender. Wilgus is a former private attorney who has been Judge Kate’s second in command since 2016. Both say they’ve seen the need for more programs and services to make sure children and their families are getting the help they need.

Wilgus says he wants to partner with community organizations to get parents with substance abuse issues into treatment quicker so they can work toward regaining custody of their children.

"They’re waiting weeks and sometimes in excess of a month before they’re able to have an assessment for drugs and or alcohol," he says. "These are parents that they need help and they need help now, and there are certainly opportunities out there to coordinate with other organizations in our community so we can get them that care quicker."  
 
Miller says she wants to create new programs that bolster at-risk youth after seeing more and more juvenile offenders coming back through the system as adults.

"That is something that’s very disappointing, and it just really shows that when we’re still in juvenile court, we still have an opportunity," she says. "I think that some of those opportunities are being missed to again have a more holistic approach, to not just supervise a kids and give them drug test but to also teach them some life skills, get them some job skills. All of these things are so important."

Both Miller and Wilgus say they’ve had opportunities in their current roles to create meaningful change in the juvenile court system. Miller was part of the effort to establish the county’s child advocacy center, and Wilgus was involved in creating a new work program for juvenile offenders.

Miller says the CAC has come a long way and is flourishing today as the Noah’s Hope Child Advocacy Center 

"When Ryan Styer took office, we did not have a child advocacy center. It is something that had been discussed prior to him taking office but it had not been accomplished. It had not been pursued, and within the first two years of him taking office, he and I really made it a priority to get a child advocacy center for this county up and running and move to that model," she says.

Wilgus says he spearheaded the creation of the TUFF bags program that allows juvenile offenders to give back by packing weekend meals for food insecure children in the community.

"That has really given an opportunity for the juveniles that have gotten in trouble to learn a lesson but at the same time, they’re really able to be educated on the needs of our community. They’re able to see what community service is all about," he says.

Program participants packed more than 100,000 meals for Tuscarawas County students this past school year. 

Miller says she has a good understanding of the needs of Tuscarawas County families and the services available to help from living here for the last 20 years.

“In 1998, I married my husband and moved to his family’s farm. We’ve raised our daughter here. We’ve been involved in the community. As she has grown up, we have been involved with several organizations, and I am very familiar with the families in our county. I’m very familiar with the services that we have available,” she says. 

Wilgus says he has the most judicial experience of any candidate in the race having presided over thousands of cases. 

“Judge Kate unfortunately in 2018 had fallen ill and was away from the court for approximately four months, and during that time I assumed the majority of her cases as well as my cases. I was making decisions for the judge’s cases as well as for my cases," he says. "That is experience that is really unmatched by any other candidate that would be trying to run for this position,” he says.

Miller says she brings a unique perspective to the position having both prosecuted juveniles and defended them.

TUSCO TV