Matthew Reger has been an attorney in Wood County for 23 years. Kurfess, Wood County Common Pleas Judge from 1990 - 2003. Reger served a judicial attorney for Judge Kurfess. In that role he drafted opinions on cases ranging from complex civil matters to motions to suppress in criminal matters. Reger also assisted with the administration of juries. In 1996 Reger started a new career with the Bowling Green Municipal Prosecutors office in Bowling Green. In this position he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in 16 of the 19 townships in Wood County. Over time he also began prosecuting for the many villages within the jurisdiction of the Bowling Green Municipal Court. In 2000 Reger was named the Bowling Green Prosecutor, making him responsible for this office and its four staff members - two attorneys and two support staff. He also married his wife Heidi that year. In 2006 Reger took a year away from his duties as prosecutor and became a volunteer with the American Bar Association's Rule of Law Initiative. This program serves to bring attorneys to developing democracies to help build lasting democratic institutions. Serving as a criminal law specialist in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia Reger trained attorneys and prosecutors in trial advocacy skills. He also trained judges in the new domestic violence law. Reger participated in parliamentary meetings devoted to creating a new criminal procedure code modeled off of both the United States and EU codes.
2006 was also the year Reger and his wife Heidi welcomed his daughter Elizabeth into the family. After returning to the United States in 2007 Reger again assumed his position as Bowling Green Municipal Prosecutor. It was during this time that he took on other responsibilities and welcomed another child. In 2009 Reger took his international experience and began serving as an election monitor. This once a year obligation requires that he travel to an election site overseas to monitor and report on the election. His obligation is usually no more than 10 days and he does this work through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE), a treaty organization that the United States is a member. Reger has monitored elections in Moldova (2009), Kazakhstan (2011), Mongolia (2013) and Bosnia/Herzegovina (2014). In 2009 Reger and his wife, Heidi, also welcomed a new child, Noah. His harrowing birth in the family bathroom is still legend in the family. In 2010 Reger, with the help of several other attorneys, created a monthly legal clinic devoted to helping those in need of legal assistance. He began the clinic in his church. Today it is a non-profit still with the monthly clinic in his church but also with a telephone answering service, weekly office hours, clinic in Napoleon, and quarterly clinics in Perrysburg and Bowling Green at the senior center. In the last 5 years the attorneys with the clinic have helped over 500 people. For more information on the clinic visit the website at www.communitychristianlegal.com. In 2011 Reger became a member of the Wood County Board of Elections and has served in the position until his run for judge in 2016. In 2015 Reger was award the Public Interest Law Award from Legal Services of Western Ohio in part because of his work with the monthly legal clinic. Reger is an active member of the community serving or having served as chair of youth arts for the Black Swamp Arts Festival (2012 - present), member of the Wood County Airport Authority (2010 - 2015), member of Woodlane Industries Board (past president of that board)(2008 - 2014, 2015 - present), Bowling Green Kiwanis (founding member of Aktion Club, an organization devoted to helping developmentally disabled give back to the community)(2000 - present), Bowling Green Alliance Church (former elder)(2000 - present), Wood County Bar Association (former president (1999), vice-president (1998) and secretary/treasurer (1997), and Wood County Committee on Aging meal on wheels volunteer (2002 - 2006, 2008 - 2011).
