About Judge Rusu

Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr. is the 20th Probate Judge of Mahoning County. He was appointed to the bench by Governor John Kasich in July of 2014, and later won the seat in the November 2014 general election. Before becoming judge, he spent two decades in private practice focused exclusively on probate matters, including estate administration, guardianships, adoptions, estate planning, Medicaid-related issues, and elder law.

Since taking office, Judge Rusu has worked to make the Probate Court more accessible to families, including creating Mahoning County’s annual Adoption Day Celebration, establishing a court Help Desk for people who cannot afford an attorney, and launching the Probate Mental Health “Fresh Start Court” in May 2018.

Judge Rusu is active statewide and locally. He is the current President of the Ohio Association of Probate Judges and serves on the Ohio Judicial College Probate Law and Procedure Committee. In 2025, the Ohio Supreme Court appointed him to the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Judicial College.

A Canfield High School graduate, Judge Rusu earned a B.A. in Political Science from Youngstown State University and a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He and his wife of 30 years, Cheryl, have four children, Nathaniel, Michael, Alex, and Mackenzie, and three grandchildren, Lainey, Ryker, and Jacey.