Jane Bond

Judge Jane Bond has been an impact player in the city of Akron for more than 25 years and is well known and well respected throughout the community.

Bond graduated with honors from Ohio University's prestigious E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 1968, where she specialized in radio and television broadcasting. She was a single parent by the time she entered The University of Akron School of Law in 1973 and began to juggle the responsibilities of a student, mother, and part-time assistant at a local law firm. She received her law degree in 1976, at a time when few women were practicing law, and worked as an assistant Summit County prosecutor.

From 1981 to 1986 she held a new position, general counsel for the County Executive, playing a major role in developing the legal framework for the first county-chartered form of government in Ohio.

Bond lost tight elections for a seat on the Akron Municipal Court in 1983 and 1985. She filled a vacancy on the bench in 1989 and won a subsequent election for an unexpired term. In 1991, she filled a vacancy in the Common Pleas Court and kept her seat in elections in 1992, 1994, and 2000.

Photo courtesy of the Common Pleas Court.

--Zachary Jackson