On Wednesday, January 21, 2026, News 5 Cleveland reported that the Ohio Supreme Court declined to reconsider the misconduct case involving Geauga County Juvenile and Probate Judge Timothy Grendell. The court denied Grendell’s motion for reconsideration, according to a list of case announcements issued by the court.
Grendell’s motion was filed on December 1st, shortly after the Ohio Supreme Court initially found him guilty of judicial misconduct. The charges stemmed from an incident where Grendell detained and charged two teenage brothers for refusing to visit their estranged father.
The Ohio Supreme Court had previously suspended Judge Grendell for at least six months last November. The court determined that Grendell violated judicial conduct rules when he ordered Conner and Carson Glasier, then 13 and 15, to be locked up in the Portage-Geauga Juvenile Detention Center for three nights due to a custody dispute in 2020. In addition to the detention, the court found that Grendell violated juvenile court rules by prohibiting the brothers from contacting their mother, Stacy Hartman, during their detention. The court dismissed two other charges against Grendell.
Judge Grendell’s suspension was for 18 months, with 12 months stayed. He was ordered to immediately leave the bench, and the suspension is without pay.
The court’s decision to deny reconsideration came just ten days after News 5 Investigator Sarah Buduson’s report highlighted Grendell’s case as the oldest judicial professional misconduct case on the court’s docket. The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct had recommended Grendell’s suspension for violating the judicial code of misconduct more than a year prior to the court’s decision.
Stacy Hartman, the mother of the detained brothers, expressed frustration with the length of time the court took to issue its ruling. Following the court’s decision, she sent News 5 a statement asserting that Grendell should face harsher punishment for detaining her sons. She stated that a judge who respects the judiciary would have accepted responsibility for his actions and that Grendell’s punishment pales in comparison to the damage he has caused her family emotionally and physically. She added that Grendell has continued to deny his misconduct and should never be seated in a judge’s seat again.
Source: News 5 Cleveland
