Sandra Kurt defeats Debbie Walsh in the Akron Municipal Court clerk race

Stephanie Warsmith, Akron Beacon Journal
Updated ·4 min read
Edna Borders, Sandra Kurt and Mark Derrig look at election returns during the Summit County Democratic Party's election night party and the Akron Civic Theatre. Kurt, the current Summit County clerk, was elected the Akron clerk in Tuesday's election.
Edna Borders, Sandra Kurt and Mark Derrig look at election returns during the Summit County Democratic Party's election night party and the Akron Civic Theatre. Kurt, the current Summit County clerk, was elected the Akron clerk in Tuesday's election.

For the first time, a Democrat will be the Akron Municipal Court clerk.

Sandra Kurt, a Democrat who has been the Summit County clerk since 2016, defeated Debbie Walsh, a Republican who has been Akron’s clerk for two years, in Tuesday’s election.

The GOP has held the Akron clerk seat since it was created.

“I'm very grateful to the voters for choosing me for this job so can I make this office into the kind of office we all deserve,” Kurt said Tuesday night from the Summit County Democratic Party’s gathering at the Akron Civic Theatre.

Kurt beat Walsh with 57% of the vote, according to unofficial election results.

Sandra Kurt, the Summit County clerk who was elected the Akron clerk, talks to a supporter during the election night party at Akron Civic Theatre in Akron on Tuesday.
Sandra Kurt, the Summit County clerk who was elected the Akron clerk, talks to a supporter during the election night party at Akron Civic Theatre in Akron on Tuesday.

The election happened at a pivotal time for the Akron clerk’s office, which is in the process of moving to a new location and upgrading technology.

Kurt said she was the better candidate because of her track record of helping to modernize the Summit County clerk’s office. She said she will do the same in the Akron clerk’s office.

“It will not happen overnight,” Kurt said. “You have to have an improvement mindset before you can start improving.”

Local parties have stake in race

The clerk's race didn’t have party affiliations on the ballot, but the local parties had a big interest in the outcome.

At stake was control of an office with 43 employees and an annual budget of about $4.7 million.

In addition, the Democrats wanted to claim the last elected position in Akron held by a Republican.

Summit County Clerk of Courts Sandra Kurt talks with a voter outside the Bath United Church of Christ polling location on Tuesday.
Summit County Clerk of Courts Sandra Kurt talks with a voter outside the Bath United Church of Christ polling location on Tuesday.

Kurt’s win means the local Democratic Party will get to appoint a replacement for the Summit clerk through the remainder of Kurt's term that ends in 2024.

Candidates have different experience

Walsh and Kurt have very different backgrounds.

Walsh, 68, has split her career between working in the private and public sectors.

Debbie Walsh, clerk of Akron Municipal Court
Debbie Walsh, clerk of Akron Municipal Court

She was a buyer and manager in the retail industry for 25 years, including working for Higbee's, Macy's and Toys "R" Us. She then switched to local politics, working for the Summit County Board of Elections and as executive director for the local GOP under late, long-time chairman Alex Arshinkoff.

Walsh served for two years on the Akron school board in 2015 and 2016 before returning to the elections board as the assistant director. She was appointed by the local GOP in November 2021 to take over for Akron clerk Jim Laria, who retired from the seat he'd held for 25 years.

Kurt, 62, also started in the private sector, working as an industrial engineer, before switching to the public realm.

Kurt served on Akron and Summit County Council before being appointed the Summit County clerk in January 2016 when Daniel Horrigan became Akron mayor. She held onto the clerk seat in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Akron clerk’s office is behind the times, Kurt says

When Kurt took over as Summit clerk, the office had electronic filing for the civil division. She added e-filing for the criminal and domestic relations divisions, as well as the 9th District Court of Appeals.

Kurt said she thinks the Akron clerk's office is behind the times compared to other municipal clerks' offices, including Stow, that have at least started going electronic. She said having a paper system means records can be lost and public record requests often take longer to fill.

"I've modernized this office and made it work more professionally for our customers," Kurt said of the Summit clerk’s office. "The Akron clerk's office is still all on paper."

Technology upgrades are in the works, Walsh says

When Walsh became the Akron clerk, she said she continued plans for a new case-management system through Tyler Technologies, a Texas-based company.

Walsh said this has proved challenging because Tyler hadn't previously assisted a municipal court in Ohio besides Cleveland. She said it has taken a long time to figure out the coding for dispersals to multiple agencies.

"We have lots of jurisdictions," she said. "All these are ticket-writing entities. They can write a ticket and we need to make sure the money is dispersed to the communities that wrote the ticket or the state."

Besides Akron, the court's jurisdiction includes Fairlawn, Bath, Richfield, Springfield Township, Lakemore and the Summit County portion of Mogadore. 

Walsh hopes the new case management system will be implemented by early next year. She said the new system will make more documents available on the clerk's website and will enable electronic filing and e-ticketing.

"It won't be 100% paperless for a couple of years," said Walsh, who noted that only one municipal court in Ohio is completely paperless. "It is definitely a goal."

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Voters choose Sandra Kurt to be the new Akron clerk