About Tom Spring

---

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, The Ohio State University

Master of Arts, Public Policy and Management, The Ohio State University

Juris Doctor, Capital University Law School; Order of the Curia 

Mr. Spring maintains a general practice  in Ohio.  A former local government administrator, Spring's practice includes local government representation, zoning,and land use law.  He represents municipal, township and special district entities.  In addition, his practice includes, wills and estates, probate practice, landlord-tenant law, and mediation.

Mr. Spring has served as a mediator in Pickaway County Juvenile Court, Franklin County Municipal Court, and the City of Columbus Law Director’s Night Prosecutor Program.  He earned a certificate of concentration in dispute resolution from Capital University Law School, and later completed additional mediation training in landlord-tenant, foreclosure, and divorce mediation. 

He has been an invited speaker on topics involving public entities, such as the mandatory and

permissive duties of township trustees and fiscal officers, downtown redevelopment districts, open meetings and public records, cemeteries, and partnering among political subdivisions  to provide public services and facilities.  He also has written articles for  the Ohio Township News.  

Tom is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, and the Ohio Township Association Law Directors Group.  He  is a past president of the Pickaway County Bar Association, and past member of the Ohio Public Employer Labor Relations  Association, and National Public Employer Labor Relations Association.   Spring is a past president of the Ohio Township Administrators Network  and past member of the Coalition of Large Ohio Urban Townships  Association Board and the Ohio City County Management Association.   

Before entering the practice of law, Spring served as a township,  municipal, and county administrator.  Tom has served on several land use  planning committees at the regional or local level and on committees of  the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.  He formerly served as chair of the City of Circleville Board of Zoning Appeals and the Circleville Township Board of Zoning Appeals.  

Mr. Spring's public sector volunteer experience includes serving as a  former member of the Natural Resources Assistance Council, State of  Ohio District 3; the Ohio Urban Forestry Advisory Committee; and Project  Reinvent at the Ohio State College of Food, Agricultural, and  Environmental Resources.   He also served eight years on Circleville City Council.

Mr. Spring is involved in community and civic activities.  He was the first president of the board of Uptown Circleville, an affiliate of Heritage Ohio using the national Main Street downtown revitalization program, and was a founding member of the Roundtown Conservancy.  In addition, he is a former trustee of the Pickaway County Historical Society.   He is a past member of the board of directors  of the Pickaway County Chapter of the American Red Cross, a former  assistant Girl Scout leader, and assistant coach of girls softball.  An  Eagle Scout, Spring is a trainer of adult leaders and serves on the Troop 170 Committee.  He is a former assistant council commissioner of the Simon Kenton Council, Boy Scouts of America.  

Tom  has been recognized for community or public service by the Ohio Senate,  Ohio House of Representatives, National Sheriffs’ Association, OSU John  Glenn College of Public Affairs, Pickaway County Board of  Commissioners, Circleville LaSertoma, Boy Scouts, and Gannett, Inc.

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

"Conservation Design Development," with Kimberly Brewster Shefelton, Ohio Township Association zoning webinar, December 13, 2023.

"Preventing Fraud; Powers of Attorney," Pickaway County SALT Council, May 17, 2023.

Indigent Burials," Ohio Township Association Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, January 26, 2023.

"Fueling Policies:  What is a Township to Do?,"  Ohio Township News, March April 2022, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 27-29.

"Cemetery Q and A:  Trends, Policies and Resources," with Kirk Roberts and Ty Dues, Ohio Township Association Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, January 28, 2022.

"Ohio's New Indigent Burial Law," with Matt DeTemple, Ohio Township Association Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio January 31, 2019.

"Powers of Attorney," Pickaway County S.A.L.T. Council, Circleville Township, January 16, 2019.

"Overview of the Sunshine Law: Public Records and Open Meetings,"  The Pickaway Leadership for Tomorrow Fund, Fellows Session 4, Circleville, Ohio, December 7, 2017.

"Downtown Redevelopment Districts," with Chris Clements, Heritage Ohio Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, October 17, 2017.

"Open Meetings and Public Record Laws," Pickaway County Leadership Network, Five Points, Ohio, April 20, 2017.

"Hiring an Assistant Fiscal Officer and Other Authorities Granted to Fiscal Officers in the Code,"  Ohio Township Association Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, January 26, 2017.

"Where Trustees' Responsibilities End and Fiscal Officer's Begin," Ohio Township Association Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, January 27, 2016.

Cooperative Projects, Ohio Township Administrators Network, May 14, 2004

"Long Range Planning:  Intergovernmental Capital Projects," with Lori Libby, Ohio Township Association Summer Conference, Dayton, Ohio, August 2002.

"Development, Ethics & Communications Top Administrators' Agenda," Ohio Township News, July-August 2002, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 30-32.

"Township-City Cooperation Enhances Public Safety Services," Ohio Township News, March-April 1998, pp. 19-20.