(3-22-24) Mercer County Clerk of Courts Calvin Freeman was named 2024 President of the Ohio Clerk of Courts Association (OCCA) at the OCCA annual winter conference. Also installed were Ashland County Clerk of Courts Deborah Myers as First Vice President, Licking County Clerk of Courts Olivia Parkinson as Second Vice President, Wood County Clerk of Courts Doug Cubberley as Third Vice President, and Geauga County Clerk of Courts Sheila Bevington as Treasurer. Re-elected were Holmes County Clerk of Courts Ronda Steimel as Corresponding Secretary and Delaware County Clerk of Courts Natalie Fravel as Recording Secretary. The Immediate Past President is Fulton County Clerk of Courts Tracy Zuver.

Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Matthew J. Fox installed the officers during a ceremony held in early December at the Nationwide Conference Center in Lewis Center, Ohio.


President Freeman said that he –

“gives credit to all the past leadership of the OCCA for their hard work and dedication in making the OCCA what it is today.”

He said that he –

“looks forward to working with the Ohio General Assembly, other state agencies in Ohio and other elected officials who faithfully serve our citizens in this great State of Ohio.”

Established in 1940, the OCCA organization is dedicated to helping the Clerks in all 88 counties to provide the best possible service to the citizens in each county and to exercise influence in legislation that affects county clerks and the courts.

The Clerk of Common Pleas Court plays a vital role in serving the interests of justice. This role includes filing, docketing, indexing, and preserving all court pleadings for civil, felony criminal, domestic relations, and court of appeals cases. The Clerk of Courts accounts for all monies collected, issue writs to carry out Court orders including summons, subpoenas, warrants to arrest, and sign the death warrant in capital cases.

The Automobile and Watercraft Title Division of the Clerk’s office is linked throughout the State of Ohio by a sophisticated computer network. This Automated Title Processing System (ATPS) provides fast, efficient issuance of millions of Ohio titles annually. In some counties the Clerk of Courts has also assumed duties as a Deputy Registrar and many clerks have co-located a Title Office with or near a License Bureau creating one-stop service centers.