Judge Noah E. Powers II was elected to the Common Pleas Court bench in 2006, taking office on January 2, 2007. Currently, he serves as Presiding Judge, coordinating the functions of twelve judges in the General, Domestic Relations, Juvenile, and Probate Divisions of the Court. He previously served as Administrative Judge of the General Division. While on the bench, Judge Powers has maintained his regular criminal and civil dockets, being recognized for excellence in administering those dockets by the Cincinnati Business Courier. In 2014, he was named the Butler County Opiate Team Captain by Governor John Kasich and Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor to assemble a team of judicial, political, and civic leaders to confront and challenge the opiate addiction epidemic in our community. In 2017, he was the recipient of the Miami Valley Trial Lawyers Association’s Judicial Excellence Award.

Judge Powers previously served on the Specialized Docket Commission of the Ohio Supreme Court and the Specialized Docket Committee of the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association. Judge Powers previously presided over two such court dockets. From 2007 thru 2014, he presided over the Felony Non Support Court, a certified, specialized docket designed to reduce the number of Felony Non-Support offenders who were sentenced to prison, and to facilitate collection of court-ordered, child support by preparing convicted nonsupport defendants for job entry and placement while addressing their specific criminogenic needs through parenting, corrective thinking, substance abuse and domestic violence programming. From 2014 thru 2019, he presided over the SAMI Court, a certified, specialized docket using effective, evidence-based interventions and treatments in a holistic, accountability-based, community-supported, approach designed to enhance public safety by preventing recidivism while assisting participants in taking responsibility for their behavioral health issues and leading a clean and sober lifestyle.

Prior to taking the bench, Powers was the managing partner of the law firm, Repper, Powers & Pagan, LTD. His past law practice focused heavily on trial work, both civil and criminal, including capital litigation. He also functioned in the following capacities: Assistant Corporate Counsel to the Armco Independent Employees Federation, Inc. (AEIF) and the Washington Courthouse Independent Employees Federation, Inc.; Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Butler County, Ohio (1986-1995); Acting Judge, Middletown Municipal Court. He also served as Co-Chair of both the Criminal and Family Law Committees of the Butler County Bar Association for several years.

Judge Powers graduated from the Middletown City School system (1971), obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky (1975) and received his law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University in Cleveland (1980). While at C-M, he was a legal intern for the Law Department at the City of Shaker Heights, Ohio. His ongoing education continues through the National Judicial College; the Ohio Judicial College, where he was trained and certified as a “Court Executive”; the Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections; the Judicial Education Program at Northwestern University; the Searle Institute at George Mason University, and the Advanced Science & Technology Adjudication Resource Center in Baltimore Maryland, being named an “ASTAR Fellow” in 2013.

Judge Powers was, and remains, deeply involved in his community. In 2000, he was chosen as a member of the Middletown City Charter Review Committee. Later, he served as a Middletown City Councilman (2004–2006) and Mayor (2005). As Mayor, he served as president of the Middletown Board of Health, Vice-President of Middletown Moving Forward, Inc., a community development corporation, and as an ex officio member of the Middletown Community Foundation, Middletown Master Plan Commission, Middletown Municipal Airport Commission, and Middletown Planning Commission. He also served as Council Liaison to the Middletown Public Library System, nka MidPointe Library System.

Other prior community involvement by Judge Powers consists of the following: former member and President of the Board of Trustees of the Middletown Public Library System, the Middletown Historical Society, and the Middletown Community Foundation, and as Vice-Chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Butler Metropolitan Housing Authority. He has also served as a youth soccer coach, Past Master of the Jefferson Lodge No. 90, F. & A.M., Past Illustrious Master of the Middletown Chapter No. 136, Royal and Select Masons, and Excellent High Priest of Middletown Chapter 87, Royal Arch Masons of Ohio. In 2019, he was made a 33 1/2 Mason. In 2015, he was named the recipient of the “9th Annual Robert ‘Sonny’ Hill, Jr. Humanitarian Award”. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army.