Municipal Court Judge Lisa Coates

Judge Lisa Coates was appointed to the Municipal Court in March 2003 and elected to a six-year term in November 2003.   She was re-elected in 2009, 2015 and 2021.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University.  Following graduation, Judge Coates pursued a law degree at Case Western Reserve School of Law.

Upon graduation and admission to the Ohio Bar, Judge Coates was employed with the Federal Government. She began at the Department of Veteran Affairs and then at the Social Security Administration.  After a short time at a civil law firm, she became an Assistant Summit County Prosecutor in the Criminal Division.  She then became the judicial attorney for a judge at the Summit County Court of Common Pleas.

Since being on the bench, Judge Coates was an integral part in establishing the court’s first diversion program.  She also established the court’s first and only specialized docket, a mental health court which received certification from the Ohio Supreme Court in April 2014 and was re-certified in 2016, 2019 and 2023.

Judge Coates is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, Akron Bar Association, Cuyahoga Falls Rotary and Cuyahoga Falls and Stow Munroe Falls Chamber of Commerce.  She is also part of the judicial mentorship program established by the Ohio Supreme Court and has served on the Summit County Criminal Justice Advisory Board.  She assists each year at Buckeye Girl’s State. She previously served as a mentor for high school business students and on committees for the Boy Scouts, SMF ROX program and Drug Safe Hudson. She is presently on the board for South Street Ministries.  She is married and has three children, a son and twin daughters.