Magistrate Warren grew up on a farm near Bluffton, Ohio, where he was taught the values of “hard work” and “family.” He graduated from Cory-Rawson H.S. in 1959, where he served as co-captain of the football and basketball teams and was “all league.” He subsequently attended and graduated from Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio in 1963, where he played football and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and speech. He then attended Ohio Northern University College of Law and received his Juris Doctorate in 1966. While at law school, he was a member of Delta Theta Phi fraternity. After law school, he was engaged in private practice until 1988, serving as a partner in law office of Romey and Warren and specializing in real estate, probate business, and domestic relations.
Magistrate Warren also served as an Assistant Lima City Prosecutor in 1969, representing Lima City Schools. He served as an Assistant Allen Co Prosecutor from 1969 until 1988 and was named Ohio Assistant County Prosecutor of year in 1984. He was elected and served four terms as Judge of the Allen County Common Pleas Court (1989-2012) and presided over more than 300 jury trials, including aggravated murder death penalty cases, as well as all types of civil cases. He is the co-founder of the W.O.R.T.H. Center, a nine county, community-based corrections facility. He was the recipient of the Ritter Award for Outstanding Ohio Attorney/Judge in 2010, presented by The Ohio State Bar Foundation.
He has been named and honored as a “Distinguished Alumni” by Ohio Northern University Alumni Association in 2009 and appointed by The Supreme Court of Ohio to the Committee of Professionalism (2008-2012). He is a member and past president of the Ohio Northern University College of Law’s American Inns of Court.
Upon retirement from the Allen County Court of Common Pleas in 2013, he was appointed Magistrate of the Lima Municipal Court where he presently serves as Chief Magistrate handling traffic offenses, small claims, evictions, traffic, and civil litigation. He is a member of the Allen County and Ohio State Bar Associations as well as a member and former board member of the Lima Rotary Club. Married to his wife, Ann, he has two sons and three step-children. He has been blessed to have had the opportunity and diversity of experience in serving the residents of Allen County, Ohio.