The Honorable Judge McCarty

Judge Alison McCarty graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, studying for a summer at Oxford University, England, in 1982, and obtained her Juris Doctorate Degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1987. She began her legal career as a Law Clerk in the Summit County Probate Court for Judge Bill Spicer. She then became a Staff Attorney for Judge William Baird of the Ninth District Court of Appeals. She started as a Summit County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in 1989. During her ten-year career as an Assistant Prosecutor, Judge McCarty handled thousands of cases, from low-level drug cases to death penalty murder trials.

As a criminal prosecutor, Judge McCarty handled some of the most sensitive and high-profile cases in our county. A seasoned trial veteran, Judge McCarty personally tried nearly one hundred jury trials, prosecuting murderers, robbers, rapists and child abusers, and obtained convictions in an overwhelming majority of those cases. She specialized in handling child physical and sexual abuse cases, as well as sexual assault cases. Her most notorious case was State of Ohio v. Douglas Prade, in which an Akron Police Captain was charged with the Aggravated Murder of his ex-wife, Dr. Margo Prade. Prade’s conviction in 1998 on all charges and the subsequent appeals have made national news and been the subject of numerous TV shows, featured on Dateline, HBO’s Autopsy, MSNBC and Investigation & Discovery Channel, as well as numerous other productions.

Judge McCarty was appointed Judge of the Akron Municipal Court in May of 1999, where she served for nine years, having been elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2005. As an Akron Municipal Court Judge, she presided over the Akron Municipal Drug Court from 2003 to 2007 and created and presided over the first urban DUI Court in the State of Ohio from 2007 until her election to the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. Judge McCarty was elected Presiding Judge for the Municipal Court in 2005. She was awarded Committee Chair of the Year by the Akron Bar Association in 2002 and 2013, awarded the 2005 Urban Light Award from the Department of Public Administration at The University of Akron, received the 2006 Legacy III Criminal Justice Award for Outstanding Service, and is a MADD Red Ribbon Award Winner for her tough stances and innovative approaches to dealing with repeat drunk-driving offenders. In 2016 Judge McCarty received a Leadership Award from the Akron Bar Association for her 15-year record as Chair of the Mock Trial Committee.

Judge McCarty has long been an advocate for victims, and has worked to protect particularly vulnerable populations, such as battered women, children, and the elderly. She has served on the Summit County Domestic Violence Coalition, the Summit County Child Fatality Review Committee, and is a former Chair of the Summit County Sexual Assault Coalition. She was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force on the Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse and has served on the Board of the Ohio Coalition on Sexual Assault. In 2018, Judge McCarty was awarded the Lt. “Ed” Duvall Award for Outstanding Service to the families and children of Summit County, which is jointly presented by the Akron Police Department, Akron Children’s Hospital, and Summit County Children’s Services Board.

Judge McCarty was elected to a six-year term on the Summit County Common Pleas Court in November 2008 and was re-elected in 2014 and 2020. She presides over serious felony matters and major civil lawsuits. She is currently the Senior Judge serving on the Court’s General Division bench, and in addition to all of her other duties, serves as the Court’s Administrative Judge, overseeing the personnel, docket and calendar of the Court, which has approximately 175 employees. Judge McCarty presides over a Reentry Court Program, which strictly monitors certain offenders after they are released from the prison system, to improve their chances of a successful transition to a law-abiding lifestyle. She is a frequent lecturer, speaking on topics ranging from trial tactics, sexual assault cases, and ethics and professionalism. She is a Bencher with the Scanlon/Bell Inns of Court, a collaborative program that promotes civility and ethical behavior within the profession and serves to mentor young lawyers in the practice of law. Judge McCarty also is often selected as a Mentor for the Ohio Supreme Court, guiding new judges and lawyers.

Judge McCarty has been married to Thomas McCarty for 36 years, and they have two grown daughters. The McCarty family has been pleased to host seven high school foreign exchange students in their home over the years.