Judge Winkler has served as the Hamilton County Probate Court Judge since 2015.  He was reelected to a second term in November 2020.  As Probate Judge, Judge Winkler presides over cases involving adoptions, estates, guardianship, mental health, marriage licenses, name changes, and other probate matters, many of which concern families in some way.  Judge Winkler is honored to hold this position of public trust and his mission is to ensure that Probate Court delivers access to justice with dignity and respect for all.

Prior to serving as the Probate Court Judge, Judge Winkler served as a Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge in the General Division from 2004 until 2015.  In 2015, Judge Winkler was awarded the Golden Gavel Award for his faithful service as a Common Pleas Judge by the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association.  In 2008, he was named Trial Judge of the Year by the Hamilton County Trial Lawyers Association.  Judge Winkler started his Judicial career as a Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge, where he served from 1999 until he was elected to the Common Pleas Court. Judge Winkler has presided over 150,000 cases since he started as a judge in 1999, providing him extensive experience in a wide variety of legal matters.

Before becoming a judge, Judge Winkler was a Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor and in private practice where he first started his work on probate matters.  Judge Winkler graduated from Chase Law School at Northern Kentucky University in 1987.  He earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration at the University of Cincinnati in 1983.

Over his extensive legal career in the courtroom and 24 years of judicial service, Judge Winkler saw the devastating impact of crime and broken families.  This experience, along with personal experience, shaped Judge Winkler’s long-standing professional dream to serve as Hamilton County’s Adoption Judge.  As the Hamilton County Probate Judge, Judge Winkler has had the great honor and privilege to serve Hamilton County by helping to put children and parents together in forever families.

Outside of the courtroom, Judge Winkler is actively involved in many community programs in Hamilton County and professional organizations.

Since 2015, Judge Winkler has been involved with Wills for First Responders. This program was born out of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack in New York City.  At the time, just a handful of police, firefighters, and port authority personnel who responded to that crisis had wills. At the Wills for First Responder events, police, firefighters, and their families meet with an attorney at no charge, where a basic will, living will, health care power of attorney, and other forms are printed, explained and notarized. These events provide each family savings of approximately $1,500 in attorney's fees and most of all peace of mind for loved ones. Judge Winkler participates in these events throughout the year and has proudly helped over 4,000 heroes and their families. 

Judge Winkler collaborated with Hamilton County Recorder Scott Crowley, in 2023, to bring the Good Deeds Program to Hamilton County.  This exciting new program helps Hamilton County residents better understand probate issues regarding their property transfers.  The goal of the effort is to help homeowners and residents identify if their current deed and other assets (e.g., bank accounts, cars) will require transfer through probate court upon death, and to consider less expensive and time-consuming alternatives to a probate transfer.

Judge Winkler also serves on the Melanoma Know More Board of Directors; he enjoys sponsoring a class in the Greater Cincinnati Adopt-A-Class program and doing charity work in our community. 

Judge Winkler is a member of: the Ohio Association of Probate Judges; the National College of Probate Judges; the American Judges Association; the Ohio Judicial College; the Cincinnati Bar Association; the Ohio State Bar Association; and, the Ohio Guardianship Association.

Judge Ralph Winkler is a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, Ohio.  He has been married to his beloved wife Teresa for over 40 years, and has three daughters, and seven grandchildren.