Judge Tom Kohl

Judge Kohl was appointed to the bench in Washington County, Oregon by Gov. John Kitzhaber in April of 1997. He was reelected three times. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky (BA) and the University of Toledo (JD). He headed the birth of the Washington County Adult Drug Court (WCADC) in 2005. The WCADC received state-wide and national recognition. During Judge Kohl’s term, the drug court had 164 graduates, saving the state over 9 million dollars in incarceration costs. Judge Kohl was also the Presiding Judge in Washington County from 2006 through 2010. He was President of the Oregon State Circuit Court Judges’ Association from 2010-11. In 2006, Judge Kohl’s daughter, Megan, was brutally murdered. The killer was tried and convicted of aggravated murder several years later. Judge Kohl is a Christian and was able to forgive Megan’s murderer only through the power and presence of Jesus Christ in his life. Judge Kohl wrote a book, “Losing Megan; Finding Hope, Comfort and Forgiveness in the Midst of Murder” in 2012. The book opened doors to churches and special events for Judge Kohl to talk about how God can take a tragedy and turn it into a triumph. The book has opened the gates of prisons for Judge Kohl to share his powerful story with inmates. He has spoken in prisons around the country including Oregon, Washington, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana (Angola Prison) and prisons in Rwanda and Indonesia. Judge Kohl is a board member of Prison Seminaries Foundation and currently does consulting work for it. He can be contacted at twkohl@gmail.com and his cell number is 503-799-0342. He currently lives in Idaho with his wife, Julie.