This article is part of the Voters Guide produced in partnership with the League of Women Voters of the Akron Area.

To learn more about the judicial candidates, visit Judicial Votes Count.

Kathryn Michael is running unopposed for the Summit County Court of Common Pleas.
Kathryn Michael is running unopposed for the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. She is the incumbent for the seat.

Kathryn Michael

Non-partisan

Campaign Email: VoteJudgeMichael@gmail.com

Education: University of Akron, B.A. ; University of Akron School of Law, J.D.

Training / Experience: 18 years of judicial experience; and 19 years of trial attorney experience

List your judicial experience (courts and years)

Akron Municipal Court Judge, 2006-2018; Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge, 2018 to present.  I currently preside over the Summit County Domestic Violence Intervention Court, a certified domestic violence specialized docket.  It is one of only two courts in Ohio that have a certified specialized docket for felony domestic violence cases.

I also have served as Administrative Judge for both the Summit County Common Pleas Court and the Akron Municipal Court.

What non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?

I was a trial attorney for 19 years, as well as a part-time magistrate for over 7 years before I was first elected as judge.

Why are you running for this particular court seat?

I am running this year for re-election to the judicial seat that I won in 2018.

Editor’s note: Kathryn Michael is running unopposed for this seat.

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.