Hon. Terri Jamison

Judge Terri Jamison’s journey from the coal fields of West Virginia to the highest reaches of the legal profession is a testament to her strength, intelligence, perseverance, and persistence. Her life story is truly a personification of the American Dream.

Judge Jamison was born and raised in Welch, WV where she attended Welch Dunbar and Welch Elementary School before graduating from Welch High School. While in high school she was active in sports, including baseball and track, was a cheerleader for the Welch Maroon Waves and worked after school at J. C. Penney’s. 

Immediately after graduation she was employed by the Department of Welfare as a Daycare Provider Coordinator, Eligibility Specialist and Fraud Investigator but soon left the Department, joined the United Mine Workers, District 17, Union Local 7635 and became one of the few women who worked as an underground coal miner. After being laid off due to the declining economy in her hometown, Terri moved to Columbus, Ohio.

She enrolled in the CETA program and obtained the training she needed to enter the workforce. She was employed by Xerox Corporation, OCLC, Nationwide Insurance and was an office manager for Howard Tyler's State Farm Insurance Agency. At Mr. Tyler’s urging she opened her own Allstate Insurance Agency which she owned and operated for more than 16 years.

Terri decided to return to college to complete her bachelor’s degree while continuing to run the agency on a full-time basis. She initially enrolled in Columbus State Community College then transferred to Franklin University where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a minor in Human Resources Management.

When Allstate made changes to its contracts with agents that made the insurance business less lucrative, Terri sold her agency and enrolled in the Capital University School of Law and obtained her Juris Doctorate in 2004.

After being admitted to the Bar, Attorney Jamison worked in the Franklin County Public Defender’s Office as an assistant public defender representing indigent clients in the Franklin County Municipal Court System and served as a Hearing Office for the Ohio Unemployment Compensation Review Commission.

On February 1, 2005, she was admitted to the United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio. In May of 2005, she was once again bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and opened the Jamison Law Offices Co. L.P.A. where she practiced Criminal, Juvenile, Domestic Relations and Probate law at the trial and appellate level. On October 29, 2007, she was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

In 2012, she made her first foray into the political world, earning 55.08% of the vote, and was elected judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations  and Juvenile Branch. In 2018, she was overwhelmingly reelected to the Common Pleas bench. In 2020, she was then elected to the Ohio Court of Appeals, Tenth District. During her time on the bench Judge Jamison has used her experience, perspective, talent, and knowledge to develop new strategies to empower families, including the Compass Program, a collaboration with the Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Agency that provided child support obligors with the training and support needed to become employed. Compass received an award from the National Association of Counties in 2017 as part of CSEA's Procedural Justice Informed Alternatives to Contempt, or P-JAC.

She has also devoted considerable time, energy, and attention to issues related to equal access to justice, diversity, inclusion, and the need to develop alternatives to detention for juveniles. Her work has been featured in two documentaries, "The Walking Logo" and "PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in School" which shined a spotlight on troubling disparities in school discipline that impact Black girls.

Judge Jamison is a member of numerous committees, boards, and associations including:

● National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

● American Judges Association

● Ohio Black Judges Association Executive Board

● Ohio State Bar Association

● Columbus Bar Association

● Franklin County Women Lawyers

● National Council of Negro Women

● NAACP

● Ohio Women in Government

● COLERA

● National Bar Association

● Ohio Supreme Court Advisory Committee for Court Security

● Ohio Supreme Court Sentencing Commission

● Board of Counselors at Capital University Law School

● Advisory Board, the Franklin University Global Center for Healthcare Education

She is also an adjunct faculty member at Capital University Law School, volunteers as an American Red Cross Blood Ambassador, YWCA and performs community service through the National Council of Negro Women, Women2Women, and the Divine Kingdom Builders Church.

Judge Jamison has gained a national reputation as a prolific and energetic speaker. She has delivered commencement addresses at high schools and colleges, presented at national conferences, and participated in panels on the need for equal access to justice, greater diversity and inclusion in the judicial system, and alternatives to detention for juveniles.

Along with her many other accomplishments, Judge Jamison is most proud of being a spouse to Ricardo “Ty” Gary, a retired Franklin County Deputy Sheriff who has started a new career as a realtor with E-Merge Realty. Their blended family includes three sons, Tremayne, Demetrius, and Sean, eight grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.