About the Clerk
Maryellen O'Shaughnessy was elected Franklin County Clerk of Common Pleas Court in November 2008, and began her term as Clerk in January 2009. Prior to that, she served for twelve years as a member of Columbus City Council.
As the elected Clerk of Courts, O’Shaughnessy is committed to providing timely, accurate and courteous service to the residents of Franklin County. She has laid the groundwork for important advances in technology, including online access to court records and electronic filing. O’Shaughnessy and her staff are continually looking for greater efficiencies and better service delivery methods. She established a new Records Division, creating a uniform system for managing the hundreds of thousands of documents the Clerk's office processes every year.
On City Council, O'Shaughnessy helped to restore "Complete Streets" to the city's transportation grid, advocating for comprehensive sidewalk policies, safe bikeways and better public transit options. She worked toward creating better, more sustainable growth policies, including Columbus' "21st Century Growth Strategy."
O'Shaughnessy is a fifth-generation resident of central Ohio, and comes from a family long dedicated to public service. She is a fourth-generation funeral director and owner of O’Shaughnessy Company Funeral Directors, established in 1889.
O’Shaughnessy is a graduate of Bishop Watterson High School, and received a B.A. in Journalism from The Ohio State University. She is active in her church and the parish community, and is a past recipient of the Diocesan Service Award.
O’Shaughnessy currently sits on the boards for: the Columbus Historical Society; the Greenways Working group of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission; Consider Biking, an organization that promotes the benefits of bicycling in Central Ohio; and the Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Advisory Committee, an advisory body to the Ohio Racing Commission.
O’Shaughnessy enjoys many multi-sport events and outdoor activities in her spare time. She lives in the O'Shaughnessy family's ancestral neighborhood of
Victorian Village.
