• Born in Clinton County, Ohio in 1962 and raised near Blanchester in Marion Township, Ohio
• Graduate of Blanchester High School, Salutatorian (1980)
• Graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.A. 1984), Government and Business
  • Women’s Basketball (walk-on), 1 yr
  • Student Trainer, Sports Medicine Dept. (primarily Football) 3 year
• Graduate of Yale Divinity School, M.Div. (1990)
• Teacher, Religious Studies, Brebeuf College Preparatory School, 2 years
• Graduate of Notre Dame Law School (J.D. 1993), cum laude.
• Managing Editor, Notre Dame Law Review
• Licensed to practice law in Ohio (1994)
• Appellate experience as law clerk to the Hon. Boyce F. Martin, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2 years
• Private practice experience, 2 years
• Deputy Prosecutor, St. Joseph Co. Indiana. Felony cases, trial work, 3 ½ years
• Assistant Prosecutor, Clinton County, Ohio. Represented townships, Veterans Service Commission; represented state in juvenile, child support and appellate cases, 2 years
• Currently serving the Mayor of the City of Wilmington as Executive Assistant responsible for assisting the Mayor with every aspect of administration of the City, including budget matters, supervision, grant administration, in-house legal services, regulatory matters, risk management and daily oversight for City departments including: Police, Fire, Ambulance, Streets, Water, Wastewater, Sanitation, Parks and Recreation, Taxi (including handicapped accessible service), 3 ½ years
• Active in legal education, mock trial and intern programs, a co-author of legal articles, organizer or teacher for attorney, police and first responder trainings, attorney educator for the Supreme Court Off-Site Court program and author of the Attorney-Educator and Teaching Guides for the Ohio Supreme Court Off-Site program. Serving on the Board of the Law Library Association and as Treasurer of the Clinton County Bar Association.
• Active in community, including Wilmington Friends Meeting; community band and theater; parent volunteer, Montessori Academy of Cincinnati; youth soccer and basketball coach for YMCA; Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Officer Bud Lee Memorial Committee; DWCIC Art Fund Committee.
• Board memberships include Miami Valley Risk Management Association, Clinton County Rails-to-Trails, Clinton County Open Lands, Inc., Downtown Wilmington Community Improvement Corporation (Economic Restructuring, Organization Committees)
• Leadership Clinton (2004)
• Married to Patrick Gentile, M.D., CEO and Medical Director of Community Care Hospice serving southwest Ohio including Clinton, Warren, Clermont counties.
• Mother to Michael Gentile, age 11

Hello and thank you for visiting my website www.electcurlissjudge.com. My name is Laura Curliss. I’m asking the citizens in the eight counties in the Ohio Twelfth District to elect me to the Court of Appeals. I am a native of Clinton County, having been born in Wilmington, Ohio and raised near Blanchester, Ohio. I attended public school, graduating from Blanchester High School as class salutatorian in 1980. My father, a U.S. Army veteran, worked at the Irwin Auger Bit Company in Wilmington most of his life. My mother also worked outside the home as a legal stenographer and court reporter for the Clinton County Common Pleas Court. My dad is gone now and my mother, Joann Chamberlin, is the elected Clerk of Courts of Clinton County, a position she has held for many years. From my family I learned the value of diligence and hard work and from my mother especially the appreciation of a life spent in public service.

Probably because of my mother's involvement with the court system, I decided early in life to become an attorney. I have had a lifelong interest in all matters concerning justice and how it is or could be achieved in society. I have studied the diversity of religious experience, evolving ideas of justice and the laws various societies have enacted to achieve their beliefs and convictions and pursued this interest at Yale University, obtaining a Master of Divinity degree before going to law school. I earned my law degree at Notre Dame Law School, where I graduated cum laude and was honored by being made the Managing Director of the Notre Dame Law Review. After graduation I was chosen to become a Law Clerk for Judge Boyce F. Martin, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which includes Ohio. This two year work experience gave me first-hand knowledge of what it means to be an appeals judge. After serving with Judge Martin I went on to become an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in South Bend, Indiana and was a felony trial attorney, handling an average caseload of 100-120 felony cases. Following my stay in Indiana and my husband’s retirement from a full-time medical practice, my husband and I decided to return to Ohio to raise our son near family. I was fortunate enough to be able to continue serving the public as an assistant prosecutor in Clinton County, Ohio, handling township and government agency matters (including the Veterans Service Commission) and also representing the state in juvenile, child support and appellate matters. At the present time I am serving as the Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Wilmington, Clinton County’s county seat. This position involves working directly with the Mayor to carry out executive and legislative decision-making in all the departments that serve the public, including police, fire and rescue, sanitation, water, sewer, zoning, parks and recreation, and transportation. Personally, I am a wife and mother to Michael and am involved in many parent activities – school-related activities, sports, music and academic lessons, etc. My husband, Patrick Gentile, MD, is the CEO and Medical Director for Community Care Hospice, located in Clinton County which services many communities in the Miami Valley.

I believe my experience working for a judge on an appellate court, my criminal law experience as a deputy/assistant prosecutor, and my executive and managerial background in the operational, legal, financial and other issues facing local government and our communities makes me an excellent candidate for the judicial seat on the Court of Appeals for the Twelfth District. I will serve with the qualities of hard work and fairness that were instilled in me by my family and that I live by today. I thank you for taking time to learn about me and ask for your vote at the general election on November 4.

Sincerely yours,

Laura Curliss
Candidate for Judge
12th District Court of Appeals