Terrence O'Donnell

Hon. Terrence O'Donnell
Terrence O'Donnell in 2008.
Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office May 19, 2003
Nominated by	Governor Robert A. Taft II
Preceded by	Deborah L. Cook
Judge, Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals
In office 2000–2003
Preceded by	Frank Celebrezze
Judge, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court
In office 1994–2000
Personal details
Born	1946 (age 70–71) Lakewood, Ohio
Nationality	Irish American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Beth
Alma mater	Kent State University (B.S.) Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, J.D.

Terrence O'Donnell (born c. 1946) is an American Justice of the supreme court of the U.S. state of Ohio.

He graduated in 1964 from St. Edward High School, an all-boys Catholic high school on Cleveland's west side. He did his undergraduate studies at Kent State University, graduating with a degree in political science in 1968. He earned his Juris Doctor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1971.

He later clerked for Ohio Supreme Court Justice J.J.P. Corrigan in 1971 and then clerked for Judge John V. Corrigan and Judge John M. Manos on the 8th District Court of Appeals in Cuyahoga County, where he later returned as an appellate judge.

He served as a Cuyahoga County, common pleas court judge for 15 years until 1994, when he ran for a seat on the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Eighth District against former Ohio Chief Justice Frank Celebrezze. He defeated Celebrezze and served on the Eighth District bench until his resignation to run for the Ohio Supreme Court in 2000 in a failed attempt to unseat Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick.

In 2003, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Deborah L. Cook resigned from the court to accept an appointment by the George W. Bush administration to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Governor Robert A. Taft II then appointed O'Donnell to fill the vacancy, effective May 2003. On November 2, 2004, O'Donnell won a special election, defeating Democrat William M. O'Neill with 61% of the vote, entitling him to finish Cook's term, which ended in 2006. He won re-election in 2006, again defeating O'Neill by almost 20 points, and was sworn in January 2007 to a full six-year term.