3 things to know about new Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers

Melissa Powers was sworn in Jan. 24 as Hamilton County prosecutor. She was appointed by the county Republican Party after longtime prosecutor, Joe Deters, was named to the Ohio Supreme Court.

She convinced a serial killer to confess

Powers, 61, began her legal career in 1991 as an assistant prosecutor with the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office and served in the office until 1998, when she went into private practice.

She received international recognition, after extracting confessions in 1997 from serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin, who was tied to killings in at least 10 states.

While on Missouri's death row, Franklin admitted to Powers that he used a high-powered rifle to kill two Black teens in Bond Hill in 1980, as they were walking to the store. Franklin also told Powers about other unsolved killings in other states.

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Judge for 16 years

Between 2006 and 2016, Powers was a Hamilton County Municipal Court judge, where she started a veteran's court program. She had been appointed to the bench in 2006 by then-Gov. Bob Taft.

In 2016, she was elected as a juvenile court judge and served through 2022. She didn’t run for re-election.

'Truth, justice and fairness'

During her swearing in ceremony last month at the county courthouse, Powers told a packed courtroom that prosecutors and law enforcement officers "are the difference between safe neighborhoods and lawlessness."

It is a job, she said, that is often thankless and goes unnoticed.

"We are beholden to truth, justice and fairness," she said "It is a philosophy I have lived by for the past 31 years as a public servant."