Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the appointment of Republican attorney Diana Stevenson to the Barberton Municipal Court serving the Barberton, Green, New Franklin, Norton, Copley, Coventry, and Clinton communities.
Judge-designee Stevenson (pictured above, left) started her legal career in 1993 as a judicial attorney for several judges in various counties, including a year as a judicial attorney at the Ohio Supreme Court. Stevenson started working for the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office in July 1996 as an assistant prosecutor, a position she held for four years. She then worked as a magistrate for the Summit County Probate Court for 12 years. She was chosen to serve as the Barberton Municipal Court’s clerk of court in 2012. Stevenson won the 2013 election and was returned to office in 2015 and 2021.
The judge-designee graduated with an economics bachelor of arts degree from the University of Akron Honors College. She has also been a certified court manager since 2014.
Stevenson is a past president of the Magic City Kiwanis and former lieutenant governor of Kiwanis District 16. Diana previously served on the University of Akron Economics Advisory Board, the University on the Honor’s College Alumni Board, and as an adjunct professor and volunteer moot court advisor and judge. She is the current chair of the Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation and volunteers for the Barberton Area Community Ministries.
She is a member of the Ohio Association of Municipal/County Court Clerks, certified by the National Center for State Courts Court Management Program. Also, Stevenson is a part of the Akron Bar Association and a fellow of the Akron Bar Association.
Stevenson will be taking the seat formerly held by Judge Jill Flagg Lanzinger, who voters elected to the 9th District Court of Appeals. She will serve the remainder of the unfinished and needs to run for election in November 2023 to retain the seat for a subsequent term. Stevenson will assume office on July 10th.
According to Stevenson, her past experience makes her well-qualified to be a judge.
“Throughout my legal career, I have made specific choices in order to prepare myself for the opportunity to become a judge. I worked for a variety of well-respected legal jurists and have learned from these mentors. My diverse background qualifies me to be a judge,” the judge-designee said.
The Barberton Municipal Court conducts preliminary hearings in felony cases, handles traffic and criminal misdemeanors, and civil cases where the money in dispute does not exceed $15,000.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Mike DeWine.
