The Clerk of Courts Office in Hamilton County and across Ohio is responsible for a range of activities pertaining to the justice system in Hamilton County. That includes everything from automobile titles and passport applications to traffic tickets and evictions.
Current Clerk of Courts Pavan Parikh, a Democrat, took over the office in 2021. He is being challenged this year by Republican Mary Hill and Libertarian Andrew Olding, both of whom did not respond to WVXU's survey request. You can read about other local races in WVXU's voter guide.
Candidates were limited to responses of no more than 250 words for each question. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and style only.
Candidate name: Pavan V. Parikh
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: www.pavanparikh.com
What life or professional experiences make you the best person for this position?
I rely upon lessons learned throughout my extensive and diverse career to lead transformation as Clerk of Courts. Every day I leverage my experiences as an award-winning attorney, community leader, educator, business executive, and Army officer to identify and solve the problems facing Hamilton County. Through collaboration and deliberate, sustained action, our team continues to ensure our courthouse works for everyone and strives to fulfill the fundamental American promise of justice for all.
Since becoming the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts in 2021, I have delivered on my promises to improve transparency, increase accessibility, and foster a culture of innovation in our office and across county government. I am running for re-election to continue the progress we have already achieved and because I am the best person for the job.
Our initiatives have focused on closing gaps in legal services by expanding the work of the Help Center, engaging in groundbreaking partnerships to bring services out of the courthouse and into the community, and upgrading technology to create efficiencies for the public to request and file critical documents. These efforts have been recognized by local, state, and national entities (including the United States Department of Justice) as models to be emulated for how to break down barriers in access to justice.
The Clerk of Courts is partisan on the ballot, but is a nonpartisan office. How will you keep the office from becoming political?
Since assuming office, our entire team has worked diligently to build a wholly merit-based recruiting and retention program, while expanding our human resources function to ensure individuals are receiving proper training and development as they progress in their careers.
We have also worked specifically to depoliticize our office and undo the legacies of the political patronage and nepotism of previous Republican administrations. We have instituted policies that forbid Clerk employees from engaging in political activity in the office and prohibit any employee from contributing to my campaign. We have continued to invest in our employees, which allows us to increase retention and preserve institutional knowledge. We raised wages, allowed departments to collectively bargain, and upgraded facilities and equipment across the entire organization. Because of these actions, we now have historically low turnover and our customers report receiving high levels of service.
I meet each of our employees individually to reassert to them that our office has three priorities: 1) that each of us work to the best of our ability; 2) that we treat everyone with the highest levels of dignity and respect; and 3) that we all are focused on innovation and continuous improvement in our operations. As we have internalized these priorities, we have successfully achieved our singular goal: delivering excellent customer service.
How would you help the general public understand how to navigate the complicated legal processes the Clerk of Courts oversees?
It is important for the public to know about the work that occurs here in the Clerk's Office as well as the courthouse at large, in order to exercise their rights and understand their responsibilities. To that end, we have invested in communicating to the public in a variety of ways.
To understand our internal processes and scope of responsibilities, we developed a robust social media presence, produced an annual report to showcase the details of our operation, and partnered with organizations around the community to inform them of what we do. We also work with local media to highlight the major projects of our office and to alert consumers to potentially fraudulent activities and scams.
However, the most important asset we have to assist the public is our Help Center. Over the last year, we expanded the Help Center to be able to assist individuals with civil case issues in Municipal Court, Common Pleas Court, Juvenile Court, and the Court of Appeals. We have also requested funding for 2025 to expand into Domestic Relations Court. Attorneys are available to advise, for free, in a limited legal representation capacity. Our Help Center partners with the 513 Relief Bus to get out into the community, reducing barriers for people in getting to the courthouse. We have also helped bring legal resources to community events targeting our veteran population, working with Disabled American Veterans, the VA, and helping produce the first ever Hamilton County Veterans’ Appreciation Day.