Wood County Prosecutor’s Office, Wood County Ohio

One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green Ohio 43402-2431

Paul A. Dobson, Prosecutor

It is the mission of the Office of the Wood County Prosecuting Attorney to provide effective and efficient prosecution related services as mandated by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Ohio. Our goal is to achieve justice for all people and to be responsive to the needs and concerns of those impacted by crime in our community.  

Our site is being rebuilt at this time.

Please pardon our lack of information as we re-tool our support for the residents of Wood County.

To contact the Prosecutor’s Office you may call (419) 354-9250 or Fax: (419) 353-2904.

You may also email Paul A. Dobson, Wood County Prosecutor here.

Staff Contacts:

Paul A. Dobson, Prosecutor, graduated cum laude from the University of Toledo with a degree in Education.  He then received his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law.  Thereafter, he worked as a Bowling Green City Prosecutor until joining the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office in 1996.  For a short time, he engaged in private practice in Toledo, Ohio.  He returned to the Prosecutor’s Office in 2002 to resume what he has said is the most rewarding job of his career.
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Criminal Division:

Chief Gwen Howe-Gebers graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Organizational Communications and then Law School at the University of Toledo. She has been involved with the Mock Trial competition in the schools and has previously served as Secretary, Vice President and then President of the Wood County Bar Assoc from 1994-1996.
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Aram M. Ohanian graduated from the James Madison program at Michigan State University with a degree in social science. He then received his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. After law school, he worked in the Stark County Public Defender before returning to Wood County to work in the Wood County Public Defender's office until 2001. In 2001, Aram joined the Fostoria Prosecutor's office while maintaining a private practice in Perrysburg, Rossford, Walbridge and Bowling Green. He once again returned to Wood County in 2003 as an Assistant Wood County Prosecutor.
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Heather M. Baker graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.S. in Criminal Justice and received her law degree from the University of Toledo in 2004. She joined the Wood County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in August, 2004, where she mainly prosecutes abuse, neglect, and dependency cases in the Wood County Juvenile Court.
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William M. Connelly graduated from Ohio State University in 1988 and the University of Toledo College of Law in 1999. He worked in private practice for five years before joining our office in the fall of 2005. Bill previously worked in our ofice as a legal intern while he attended law school.
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Civil Division:

Chief Molly L. Mack received her undergraduate degree in History from the College of Wooster and graduated cum laude from Thomas M. Cooley Law School where she was Managing Editor of the Cooley Law Review and Associate Member of the Legal Author’s Society. Ms. Mack served as Law Clerk to the Honorable John W. Potter, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, prior to entering private practice in Toledo. She left the practice of law to begin raising a family and, in 2000, returned to private practice in Toledo. She joined the Prosecutor’s Office in November 2004 where she is assigned to the civil division.
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Linda F. Holmes graduated from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in history and education and received her law degree from the University of Toledo where she competed in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition.  Ms. Holmes began as an assistant in 1984 in the juvenile division before transferring to the civil division.  In 1994 she was appointed Chief of the Civil Division representing all county elected officials and departments, townships, and the health department.  Linda also presents training to county employees, townships and elected officials.
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Juvenile Division:

Chief Assistant Timothy C. Atkins attended the University of Toledo graduating with a B.A. in Classics in 1987. He obtained his law degree from the University of Toledo School of Law in 1993. In 1995, he joined the Wood County Prosecuting Attorneys Office as an assistant prosecutor starting in the Child Support Division. In June of 1995, Tim was assigned to the Juvenile Division where he continues to prosecute cases in the Wood County Juvenile Court. 
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Walter Meneses attended Marietta College graduating with a B.A. in Biology/Management.  He earned his law degree from New York Law School and became an attorney in 1986.  He served as an United States Navy Judge Advocate General from 1986 to 1993.  Walter then took a position as a Wood County Public Defender in 1993 and joined the Wood County Prosecutor's Office in 2003.
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Youth Services & Programs:

Director Valerie Linkey received her Bachelor degree in elementary education from Bowling Green State University. She is also a graduate of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Basic Police Academy and Terra Community College with an Associate degree in Law Enforcement/Police Science. In 2002 she was hired as Executive Assistant for the Youth Violence Prevention Program and was promoted to Director of Youth Services & Programs in August of 2003.
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Victim Assistance:

Monica A. DeLeon- graduated from University of Toledo where she received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. In 1999 she began working at the Wood County Prosecutor's Office as the Coordinator of the Victim/Witness Program. Monica is also an active member of the Wood County Domestic Violence Task Force and the Sexual Assault Response Collaboration group.
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Robert J. McGeein - Asst Coordinator Victim Services-Juvenile Division. The services provided by this program are authorized by the Ohio Legislature. He has been with the Prosecutor's office for 3+ years making these services available to victims of felony crimes committed by juveniles, e.g., vehicular homicide, assault, domestic violence, sex oriented crimes, criminal damaging.
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General Duties of the Prosecutor's Office:

The duties of the office are many and varied. The prosecuting attorney inquires into the commission of crimes within the county. The prosecuting attorney prosecutes, on behalf of the state, all complaints, suits, and controversies in which the state is a party, and other suits, matters, and controversies that the prosecuting attorney is required to prosecute within or outside the county, in the probate court, court of common pleas, and court of appeals. In conjunction with the attorney general, the prosecuting attorney shall prosecute in the supreme court cases arising in the prosecuting attorney's county.

The prosecuting attorney is the legal adviser of the board of county commissioners, board of elections, county engineer, county sheriff, county board of MRDD, county children services board, county auditor, county treasurer, county recorder, county clerk of courts, and all other county officers and boards, including all tax-supported public libraries, and any of them may require written opinions or instructions from the prosecuting attorney in matters connected with their official duties. The prosecuting attorney is the legal adviser for all township trustees and clerks. The prosecuting attorney shall prosecute and defend all suits and actions which any such officer or board directs or to which it is a party, and no county officer may employ any other counsel or attorney at the expense of the county, unless authorized to do so by the prosecuting attorney.

Where, after investigation, the prosecuting attorney is satisfied that funds of the county, or public moneys in the hands of the county treasurer or belonging to the county, are about to be or have been misapplied, or that any such public moneys have been illegally drawn or withheld from the county treasury, or that a contract, in contravention of law, has been executed or is about to be entered into, or that such a contract was procured by fraud or corruption, or that any property, real or personal, belonging to the county is being illegally used or occupied, or that such property is being used or occupied in violation of contract, or that the terms of a contract made by or on behalf of the county are being or have been violated, or that money is due the county, the prosecuting attorney may, by civil action in the name of the state, apply to a court of competent jurisdiction, to restrain such contemplated misapplication of funds, or the completion of such illegal contract, or to recover, for the use of the county, all public moneys so misapplied or illegally drawn or withheld from the county treasury, or to recover damages, for the benefit of the county, resulting from the execution of such illegal contract, or to recover, for the benefit of the county, such real or personal property so used or occupied, or to recover for the benefit of the county, damages resulting from the nonperformance of the terms of such contract, or to otherwise enforce it, or to recover such money as is due the county.