MEET ELLIOT
My name is Elliot Kolkovich and I am running to remain your Summit County Prosecutor.
I hope to continue using my experience, and qualifications to stand up for the most vulnerable people in our community, and keep our neighborhoods safe.
About Me
I was born in Staunton, Illinois, a small Midwestern town with no stoplight and no McDonald's. My dad took over my grandfather's garage fixing cars in 1987 and ran a one-man shop. My mom also worked, but mostly raised me. I was the first person in my family to attend college. I went to the University of Illinois and graduated with a bachelors and masters in Journalism in 2002 and 2003 respectively.
While in college, I met Elizabeth. She graduated with me but continued on, earning her PhD in 2009. I tried to make a career as a journalist, but never caught on anywhere full time. It was a terrible time to be looking for newspaper work. I got antsy and moved to DC in 2005 and interned on Capitol Hill for Bobby Rush and Ted Kennedy. I got the public service bug and decided to go to law school. I moved back to go to Saint Louis University. Elizabeth and I married in January 2008 and I graduated in May 2010.
Elizabeth took a job as an English Professor at Ohio State at the Mansfield Campus in fall 2009. When I finished law school I followed her to Ohio. I sent letters to every prosecutor's office within two hours of Mansfield. Though we were living in Columbus, I worked as an intern in Akron at the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, driving four hours a day. I loved the office immediately. It bustled. People were dedicated, they swapped stories, they fought hard for victims, and always supported each other.
Fortunately, the office had an opening as soon as I passed the bar in May 2011. I started in the Juvenile Division and worked my way up to the criminal division in February 2012.
While I worked in Summit, Elizabeth and I had our first child, Teddy, in 2012. We had our second child, Maggie, in April 2020, about three weeks after the lockdown. Both of our kids proved to be fighters and have grown up to be amazing children.
I spend a lot of my time coaching Teddy’s baseball teams and being silly with Maggie.
At the office, I eventually became the Grand Jury Supervisor which was the position I was in when I left to become an Assistant United States Attorney in September 2022.
The US Attorney's Office was an incredible place to work, but it didn't fit me. I missed the hustle and bustle of the county and the constant trials and activity. I also missed the people. I came back in May 2023 as the Community Outreach Prosecutor.
It was the honor of a lifetime to be sworn in as the Summit County Prosecutor in February 2024. This is the office that gave me my career and it’s incredibly humbling to now lead it.