Katelyn Dickey, who won the Republican primary for the open 7th District Court of Appeals seat, will begin serving on that bench April 10.

Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Dickey on Friday. The Vindicator had reported earlier in the day that he would appoint her very soon.

Dickey of Lisbon will resign her seat as Columbiana County Municipal Court judge before her appointment takes effect.

Dickey won the March 19 Republican primary for the position, receiving 69.3% of the vote and beating Mary DeGenaro of Poland, a former Ohio Supreme Court justice who spent 17 years as a judge on the 7th District Court of Appeals.

Besides Dickey, there are no other candidates on the Nov. 5 general election ballot for the seat.

The appeals court seat has been vacant since the Jan. 1 resignation of David D’Apolito, a Democrat. D’Apolito, who was up for reelection, was hired as Canfield city manager.

When D’Apolito’s appointment to the city manager job was announced in November, there was an effort to have DeWine, a Republican, appoint his successor before the March 19 primary. But DeWine decided to wait until after the primary to make his decision.

Since D’Apolito’s resignation, the court has used a visiting judge.

The appeals court has jurisdiction over Mahoning, Columbiana, Belmont, Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble counties. Mahoning is the most-populous county in the district with the court located in Youngstown.

When Dickey begins serving, there will be three Republicans and one Democrat on the appeals court.