Ronald Rice

Ronald J. Rice, a Trumbull County, Ohio judge, was involved in a single-vehicle rollover crash on July 18, 2025, after driving off the road and hitting two traffic signs on Scoville North near Niles Vienna Road. The Ohio State Highway Patrol found Rice, then 69, had a loaded handgun in the car at the time. He was charged with a felony count of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, along with misdemeanor DUI and failure-to-control charges.

Rice pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle under the influence and an amended charge related to the loaded firearm. Appearing before a visiting judge in Girard Municipal Court, Rice was sentenced to two years of probation, a one-year driver's license suspension (with work/medical exceptions), and a two-year ban on owning or possessing firearms. He received a 180-day jail sentence with 177 days suspended and enrolled in a driver intervention program to avoid serving jail time.