VOTE411 Voter Guide

I have been a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney so I have seen the criminal justice system from both sides. I believe this unique experience will help me better evaluate how cases should be handled. I have also handled over 300 jury trials so my experience in the court room is vastly superior to my opponents.

I would work to bring more transparency to the prosecutors office. The reasoning behind why decisions were made should be fully explained to the community. My main goal would be to prioritize violent criminals and repeat offenders while working to provide alternative sentencing to low level offenders and those with drug addictions.

I would work with the sheriff, who is the one in complete control of the jail, to provide whatever assistance is needed to improve the jail.

I have been on the front lines of the criminal justice system for more than 13 years as a federal and county prosecutor. In doing so, I have worked my way up in the Summit County Prosecutor's Office from intern to juvenile prosecutor, adult felony prosecutor, and grand jury supervisor before my appointment to the Prosecutor position in February 2024. Through that experience, I have developed a deep understanding of each duty that the Office serves and a passion for effective prosecution that reflects our values.

My experience has shown me that public safety doesn't just exist if the County Prosecutor passively sits behind a desk or a trial table. Rather, public safety can only exist when the County Prosecutor proactively seeks out new ways to hold offenders accountable and to prevent crime. In short, I am the best candidate because I know the job, the tremendous responsibilities that it entails, and the commitment to innovation that it demands.

As Prosecutor, I have three main priorities.

First, we must preserve public safety. To accomplish that, I have directed a historic reorganization of the Criminal Division to reassign the most experienced prosecutors to exclusively handle homicides, sex offenses, and other violent offenses. We have already seen significant results with high-level felony convictions increasing 38% and the trial guilty verdict rate going up 12%.

Second, we must rehabilitate low-level offenders with mental health and substance abuse issues into productive citizens. To that end, I have hired the first-ever Specialty Dockets prosecutor and we've increased diversionary placements for deserving offenders, which reduces recidivism and keeps everyone safer.

Third, we must protect everyone's rights from victims of crime to women seeking health care and workers looking for a fair wage. As Prosecutor, I will continue to pursue innovative programs to ensure the protection of those critical rights.

Under Ohio law, the Sheriff is charged with operating the Summit County Jail. As legal counsel for the Sheriff's Office, I am committed to working with the Sheriff to assist her continued efforts to provide appropriate jail conditions that satisfy inmates' constitutional rights and comply with all other applicable laws.

In carrying out that responsibility, I will encourage innovative thinking. Too often, we demand the Jail to operate not only as a place of incarceration but also as a mental health treatment facility or a substance abuse rehabilitation center. We should continue to find ways to work with community partners and nonprofit organizations to satisfy those rehabilitative needs. By doing that, the Jail can serve its traditional purpose as the place for detaining dangerous defendants while they await trial and lower-level offenders ordered to serve their incarceration locally.