Judge Anita Laster Mays was elected to the Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals on November 4, 2014 and re-elected for a second term on November 3, 2020. As an appellate court judge, she chairs the court’s technology committee and is a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio technology and domestic violence committees. 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.