LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio —
One of the many local races Lucas County residents will be able to vote early on next week is for a judge seat in the county's court of common pleas.
Candidates Jaime Agnew and Ken Walz are both University of Toledo Law School graduates and also both hold undergraduate degrees in biology. Law was a path neither candidate had initially planned on taking.
Agnew is originally from East Liverpool, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border, and began practicing law in a large bankruptcy firm. She started her own private practice and was a partner, but then worked as a solo practitioner for a while. She also worked as an assistant public defender.
Agnew was eventually appointed to the municipal court as a magistrate judge for five years. She went to work at the state Attorney General's office and worked as a senior assistant attorney general in the consumer protection division. Now, she has rejoined the Toledo Legal Aid Society as a public defender.
Walz is originally from West Toledo and was working at St. Vincent Hospital full-time when he went to law school.
He started his own law firm and then started working at the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office. He brought his healthcare background into his law practice by working at a medical malpractice firm.
Walz also worked as a prosecutor in Sandusky County for seven years, but now works in Lucas County as a senior assistant prosecutor in the general division.
Both candidates plan to use their perspectives as prosecutors and defense attorneys in their philosophy for judging.
"I've been in front of judges that I thought maybe didn't listen to me, either when I was a defense attorney or as a prosecutor, and I've been in courtrooms where I thought a person needed something, but they just weren't heard," Walz said.
Agnew said each case is different.
"I see every case as important to the person who brings that case to the court," Agnew said. "Although we may see it from a different perspective from the bench, or the community may see it from a different perspective, it is difficult for anyone that faces the court."
Each candidate wants to work on tackling recidivism: the tendency of someone to reoffend.
Agnew said she wants to see judges in different courts come together, especially starting in the juvenile courts.
"I think there's a gray area and I think we need to work on that in the judicial system," she said. "Talk about again, bridging the gap making sure that if there are any services that can be offered to make sure that we try to eliminate poor decisionmaking from the beginning."
Walz said he wants to bring more attention to mental health and try to bring a specialized docket to the area that focuses on mental health.
"The court would take an active role in meeting frequently with the probationers to make sure that the community stakeholders are present," he said.
This would include mental health recovery board service providers, housing people and employers.
"To make sure that the people that are coming through the court system, who are here more for a mental health issue than for some other issue, can have that cycle of recidivism interrupted," Walz said.
Each candidate believes a judge plays a special role in the community, too.
"It has to be willing to listen to all parties and put aside those biases that we might have," Walz said. "A young person, an old person, a rich, a poor, Black, white, doesn't matter. It has to be fair."
Agnew said the role of a judge is to help people who are before the court.
"That includes defendants," she said. "That includes the victims. It's our responsibility to make sure that we are protecting the community by making good decisions."
Over the next 32 days, both candidates plan on going out, knocking on doors and meeting with voters before they head to the polls.