Nicole believes that a fair and balanced judicial system is best when it works for everyone. A qualified judge is someone who not only knows the law but also knows how and when to temper justice with mercy and compassion.

Nicole’s Story

Judge Nicole L. Sanders currently presides over the only full-time statutorily created drug court in the State of Ohio. Judge Sanders is a life-long resident of Cincinnati, Hamilton County Ohio, a mother, grandmother, legal professional and long-time public servant.

Judge Sanders earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Cincinnati and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. After graduating, she joined the City of Cincinnati Prosecutor’s office as an Assistant City Prosecutor, Assistant City Solicitor handling municipal criminal, criminal appellate, general civil litigation and appellate cases. Judge Sanders also served as Chief Counsel for a Division in the City of Cincinnati’s Law Department and as a Prosecutor for the Mental Health Court, a specialized docket in Municipal Court focused on treatment and compliance. Judge Nicole Sanders is a member of the Ohio State Bar, Southern District Western Division, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court of America.

In April 2013, Nicole was appointed as a Common Pleas Magistrate in the Hamilton County Juvenile Court. As a Magistrate working in the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, she frequently interacted with people who are fighting the battle of addiction. Judge Sanders currently presides over an adult drug treatment court with over 2000 participants, manages an internal staff of six and interacts daily with over 30 individuals including public defenders, prosecutors, probation officers, assessors, providers and peer recovery specialist. To date over 300 participants have graduated successfully under Judge Sanders’ leadership.

Commitment to Service

Judge Sanders is active and engaged in the Hamilton County community. She served on the Winton Woods Community Coalition Board, a non-profit organization, where the goal was to reduce the onset of youth alcohol, tobacco and drug use in the community. She was a board member of the New Orphan Asylum Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization that awards graduate and undergraduate scholarships to deserving traditional and non-traditional students. She served on the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers as a Steering Committee member, Chair and Co-chair for the Ethic, Justice, and Values section of the program for eight years. She worked on the Cincinnati Bar Association Pro-Kids fundraiser for several years, and was a Cincinnati Bar Association’s Black Lawyers of Cincinnati Scholarship Committee member.

Judge Sanders is a 2010 Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers Fellow, a 2022 Champions of Recovery Award Recipient and 2023 Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellow. Judge Sanders currently mentors young lawyers through the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Lawyer to Lawyer program and has done so for six years. She is also an active and very proud member of Cincinnati Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Judge Sanders currently presides of the only full-time statutorily created drug Court in the State of Ohio. She took the bench January 2, 2021.

Treatment is compassion because it’s time for “Justice Not Politics.”