The Hon. Anita Laster Mays Elected Administrative and Presiding Judge

Judge Anita Laster Mays was unanimously elected by her colleagues to serve as the Administrative Judge of the Ohio Court of Appeals, Eighth District in 2023. The Eighth District, which covers all of Cuyahoga County, is one of the largest and busiest appellate courts in the state of Ohio court system. The 12 judges of the court preside over administrative, criminal, and civil appeals emanating from the court of common pleas and its divisions: general, probate, domestic, and juvenile, as well as from the 13 municipal courts in Cuyahoga County and various administrative agencies. The court also presides over original actions, including writs for habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, prohibition, and procedendo.

Judge Anita Laster Mays was elected to the Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals on November 4, 2014 and re-elected in 2020. Judge Laster Mays served 11 years as a judge on Cleveland Municipal Court. There she was in charge of the Cleveland Mock Trial Competition, the Federal Weed and Seed Docket, the Mental Health Docket, and the Greater Cleveland Drug Court. As the drug court judge, 80% of the graduates remained drug free and living productive lives. Additionally, Judge Laster Mays was selected to be a member of the Specialized Docket Advisory Board of the Ohio Supreme Court to create policy and procedures for specialized dockets in the State of Ohio.

Judge Laster Mays has a wealth of experience. She is a former Deputy Director of the Criminal Division in the Cleveland Clerk of Courts Office, former Assistant Cleveland Prosecutor, and defense attorney handling probate, domestic relations, civil and criminal matters. Judge Laster Mays is a 1992 graduate of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and a 1996 graduate of The Ohio State University. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Management Information Systems.

Judge Laster Mays is a member of the American Judges Association, the National Bar Association, the Ohio Bar Association, and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. She has been on the 3Rs Committee with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association since its inception. This committee serves students in Cleveland and East Cleveland Schools educating them on the Rights, Responsibilities and Realities of the law. Judge Laster Mays is a member of Providence Baptist Church, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated and various neighborhood organizations.

She is married to Kurt Mays and mother of three adult children.