He was admitted to the bar of the State of
Ohio and became an Assistant County Prosecutor in
Summit County, Ohio. He then entered the private practice of law in
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio from 1956 to 1968. During this time he was an assistant county prosecutor for Summit County from 1957 to 1959, and special counsel for the attorney general of the State of Ohio from 1959 to 1966. He was also an assistant solicitor and special trial counsel for the City of
Tallmadge, Ohio from 1963 to 1965. In 1968 Bell was appointed by Ohio Governor
Jim Rhodes to a vacancy on the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court. He later was elected to that post, holding it until 1973. He then ran for and was elected to the Summit County
Court of Common Pleas for Summit County from 1973 to 1977. He was then appointed to the
Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals and later was elected to that position, serving until 1982. ==Federal judicial service==