Ken Walz, a candidate for the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, is a senior assistant prosecutor with the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office with 20 years of experience in criminal prosecution, criminal defense and medical malpractice defense.
“I’ve observed courts over the last 20 years of practice – I’ve learned what a court should be and should not be,” he says of his decision to run for a seat on the bench.
A Toledo native, Walz is a graduate of Central Catholic High School. He earned an associate’s degree in respiratory care technology, a bachelor’s degree in biology and a law degree all from the University of Toledo.
Walz emphasizes that he would like to “make my community better” and says that he can do that in part, as a judge, by helping to reduce the rate of incarceration. There are alternative solutions to incarceration, he notes. “Where appropriate there are non-custodial services that can keep individuals in the community so they can work and [the community] can avoid the ripple effect of even short-term incarceration.”
In addition to his longtime legal work, Walz is also a registered respiratory therapist at St. Vincent Medical Center. Considering his work in both the legal and medical professions, it is perhaps not surprising that he is an advocate of establishing a mental health docket in the Court of Common Pleas.
“I have been working for 20 years in the criminal justice system and I’ve said the system is broken. [A mental health docket] is one path to an improved system. Mental health needs to have more of a spotlight and is a way the court can help [reduce] recidivism.”
Walz is a candidate for the open seat created by Judge Linda Jenning’s retirement. He is endorsed by the Lucas County Democratic Party, Toledo Fire, UAW, Teamsters, LiUNA Local 500 and the Toledo Federation of Teachers, to name a few.
The courts can also be improved, says Walz, by the inclusion of more even-keeled judges on the bench.
“I’ve seen elements of bias and rudeness,” he notes. “My skillset and my character of fairness and equality make me well qualified to be a judge.”