Judge Christen Finley is a Lawrence County native from Burlington, Ohio. Judge Finley graduated from Chesapeake High School in 1999 and continued her academic studies at Marshall University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a major in Economics in 2002. Thereafter, Judge Finley attended Capital University Law School and graduated with her Juris Doctor in 2005.

While practicing as an attorney, Judge Finley handled a wide variety of cases for her clients in courts throughout southern Ohio. During her career in private practice, she identified the need to broaden her role within the court system to better serve the people and communities she represented. This led her to undertake additional training to become a certified court mediator and guardian ad litem.

This passion to serve her community took on a new role in 2018 when she was the first female Judge ever elected to the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas General Division. Since assuming her position on the bench, Judge Finley has worked with her staff and community partners to identify and secure grant dollars used to improve court services and technology, and to expand services offered through the Lawrence County Adult Probation Department. In addition, Judge Finley created and currently maintains the first Re-Entry Court established in Southern Ohio.

Judge Finley is a member of the Lawrence County and Ohio State Bar Associations, as well as the Ohio Judicial Conference and Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association. She currently serves as a co-chair of the Judicial Conference’s Community Corrections Committee and was nominated and selected as a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Ohio Judicial College through the Supreme Court of Ohio. Judge Finley also serves on various subcommittees through her work with the Ohio Judicial Conference, Common Pleas Judges Association, and Supreme Court of Ohio.

Outside of work, Judge Finley enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, hiking, and serving as a volunteer for various non-profit organizations.