AKRON, Ohio — Akron Police officers are now being required to process their own criminal complaints during a new weekend closure at the Akron Municipal Clerk of Courts Office, a move the Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge 7 says is adding pressure to an already short-staffed department.
The change is tied to a new electronic case management system that launched in September, according to the Akron Municipal Clerk’s Office. Officials said the updated software has significantly reduced overnight paperwork and streamlined the process of entering cases into the court system.
Under the new process, officers will handle complaint processing duties from 12:01 a.m. Sunday until 8 a.m. Monday, while the clerk’s office is closed.
Court officials said they worked with Akron Police leadership and the mayor’s office for months before implementing the change.
However, the Fraternal Order of Police says union leaders were never given a clear explanation for why officers are now taking on additional administrative duties.
“Now having to do it yourself, they are trying to sell this as it’s a more streamlined process,” said Sgt. Brian Lucey, president of the Akron Police FOP. “However, it’s a new process with little training done, and we’re already short-staffed and this is again taking officers away from proactive police work and now doing clerical work.”
The clerk’s office said the software now makes cases immediately available to the court once they are entered into the system, eliminating much of the paperwork previously required for Monday morning arraignments.
The Akron Municipal Court sent News 5 this full statement:
On September 1, 2025, the Clerk of the Akron Municipal Court went live with state-of-the-art electronic case management software, replacing the existing archaic 1980s-era software. Cases are created electronically in the new system, eliminating the need for paper case files. This allows for more efficient Court and Clerk operations and also provides for online payments of fees and fines.
When case files were paper, Clerk staff were busy on the third shift preparing case files for morning arraignments in the Court. With electronic cases, the cases are available to the Court electronically as soon as they are created, eliminating the need for case preparation on the third shift.
The Clerk’s office continues to process complaints (“clerk” the complaints or enter them into the case management system) for all law enforcement entities in the Akron Municipal Court District. The Clerk’s office historically had prepared complaints to be submitted for processing for the Akron Police Department while other law enforcement agencies in the district prepared their own complaints. Without the need to prepare case files for Monday morning arraignments, and with current budgetary constraints, the decision was made to close the Clerk’s office from 12:01 A.M. Sunday until Monday at 8:00 A.M. The Clerk’s office has worked with the Akron Police Department and with the Mayor since February to ensure this Sunday closure would not create any unintended issues and would not negatively impact APD’s operations.
The City of Akron sent News 5 this statement:
The change in hours was a decision made by the Akron Clerk of Courts office, an independently elected role. The city administration has been made aware of the planned closure and has been engaged in discussions with the clerk’s office about the decision and how it is implemented.
FOP Lodge 7 says the Akron Police Department currently has about 430 officers, despite being budgeted for 455 positions. Union leaders noted that some recruits are currently in the police academy, but they remain concerned that the new policy could lead to officers taking on more clerical responsibilities in the future.
