Login | September 11, 2026
Meet Akron Municipal Court Administrator William E. Owens
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: September 11, 2026
A decorated U.S. Air Force veteran, attorney William E. Owens spent most of his career working in the civilian sector of the federal government, serving in numerous leadership capacities and gaining experience in human resources, court management and as an attorney.
Now after decades of federal service, Owens has begun giving back at the local level, taking on the role of court administrator at Akron Municipal Court.
“The position allows me to utilize my previous skill sets to continue to move the court forward in a positive direction,” said Owens, who started on May 4.
“I am very excited about the opportunity,” said Owens. “I inherited a great staff, and the judges have been very supportive. The combination allowed me to hit the ground running with managing the many responsibilities associated with court operations.”
Owens’ selection comes more than two years after former Akron Municipal Court Chief Executive/Court Administrator Montrella Jackson left in late February 2024 to become the city of Akron’s director of human resources.
In a press release, Akron Municipal Court Administrative/Presiding Judge David Hamilton stated, “Attorney Owens has an extensive background in employment law and operations management, which made him a top candidate for this role.
“My fellow judges and I are confident he will make a tremendous impact on our jurisdiction.”
A native of Cleveland, Owens enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1986, serving four years of full-time active duty and two years in reserve status.
At the time of his honorable discharge, he had earned the enlisted rank of sergeant along with two accolades—the U.S. Air Force Achievement Medal for Meritorious Service and the U.S. Air Force Military Airlift Command Professional Image Award.
Shortly after concluding his military service, Owens resumed his undergraduate studies at Cleveland State University (CSU). Prior to joining the military, he attended Ohio University for one year.
“Quite honestly, I left for financial reasons,” said Owens. “I was raised by my grandparents, and being a kid from the inner city, I had limited resources to support my educational endeavors, so I could not afford to continue college at that time.
“Joining the military assisted me with paying for school.”
At CSU, he majored in biology and minored in chemistry.
“My original intention was to become an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports injuries but following my college graduation, I started working as a chemical technician at a biochemical company,” said Owens. “Later I became a tribologist for a predictive maintenance company.
“I talked to colleagues about taking the MCAT and applying to medical school, but I was encouraged to think about law school,” he said. “I did some research and realized that my background might be a good fit for IP law, so I decided to apply to law school.”
Owens enrolled in the evening law program at CSU, continuing to work for the predictive maintenance company during the day.
But in May 2001, he was hired by the U.S. Postal Service as senior plant safety manager and human resources generalist.
“I oversaw both the process and distribution center and the airport mail facility in Cleveland,” said Owens. “I was responsible for the safety and health of over 3,000 employees.
“As I was preparing to take my last final in law school, we had an Anthrax-related emergency,” he said. “I remember taking my final in record time.”
After earning his Juris Doctor in 2002, Owens was recruited by the U.S. Department of Labor, initially working as a claims examiner handling workers’ compensation matters for former employees of the U.S. nuclear weapons industry.
From November 2007 to May 2019, he was the workers’ compensation manager in Cleveland.
His work schedule led him to postpone taking the bar exam, so he wasn’t sworn in as an attorney until 2008.
In private practice, Owens focused on employment and labor law matters.
In 2019, he became an administrative hearing officer for the U.S. Department of Labor.
“I served in this role for about four years,” said Owens. “During my tenure I issued over $50 million in awards under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. In the role, I not only reviewed recommended decisions issued by our district offices, but I also administered hearings and wrote final decisions that were only appealable to federal district court.”
In April 2023, he resumed his former title of workers’ compensation manager at the U.S. Department of Labor, before becoming the staff education and mentoring (SEAM) unit manager in June 2024.
He officially retired from federal service in June 2025.
However, he wasn’t ready to call it a career, so he accepted a position as the court administrator in the Housing Division of Cleveland Municipal Court.
“When I retired from federal service, I was still young enough to consider other career opportunities,” said Owens. “I decided that I missed the court system and I took the opportunity to return to the operational side of things.
“Unfortunately, not long after I started my role, there was an election and my judge did not prevail.”
So instead, Owens returned to his earlier roots, serving as chief human resources officer at the Cleveland Department of Public Utilities.
“My plan was to go back to the court system at some point,” he said. “I actually applied for the court administrator role at the Akron Municipal Court prior to taking the position at the Department of Public Utilities and accepted the position at the Akron Municipal Court after an extended consideration period,” said Owens.
Unlike his previous court administrator position where the operation only had one presiding judge, Owens now manages a six-judge court and is charged with overseeing all the court’s operations, implementing policies and procedures and supervising division managers, magistrates and staff attorneys.
“I bring the same commitment to public service that I’ve had since I entered the military,” said Owens. “I am very impressed with the programming that is made available to the public and I am particularly intrigued by Judge Hamilton’s COMPASS (Compassion, Opportunity, Mentoring, Purpose, Achievement, Success, Stepping forward) Program because I’m very interested in supporting individuals who come from similar challenging backgrounds as I did.”
A resident of Beachwood, Owens is a member of the Akron Bar Association and the National Bar Association and serves on the Summit County Criminal Justice Advisory Board.
Owens, who is married and has three adult children, continues to mentor inner-city youth on a one-on-one basis.
“As a child, I lost both of my parents to violent crimes and one of the ways my grandparents made sure I stayed out of trouble was to get me involved in sports,” said Owens.
“It’s a great tool and I’ve continued to use it to help other young people,” said Owens. “I’ve helped develop around 15 scholar-athletes over the years who eventually got opportunities to attend college on athletic scholarships.
“I am really proud of the fact that I am able to pass on what was given to me.”