Betty D. Montgomery's story

Betty Montgomery was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on April 3, 1948. A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Montgomery thrice made history – as the first woman County Prosecutor, Attorney General, and Auditor of State in Ohio. 

Montgomery grew up in Fremont and, later, Worthington, where she graduated from Thomas Worthington High School in 1966. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in 1970 and later served as Chair of the BGSU Board of Trustees.

While studying at the University of Toledo College of Law in the early 1970s, Montgomery sought a clerkship at the Lucas County Courthouse, but women were restricted to clerking for women judges. There was only one woman judge in Lucas County at the time. Montgomery was eventually hired as a secretary by Judge Robert Franklin, who quickly promoted her to criminal clerk. Montgomery earned her Juris Doctorate in 1976. 

Shortly thereafter, Montgomery became an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Wood County and later served as Prosecutor for the City of Perrysburg beginning in 1978. She was recruited to run for Wood County Prosecutor by the chair of the Wood County Republican Party in 1980. Her victory made Montgomery the first woman prosecutor in all 88 Ohio counties. She served two terms.

In 1988 a seat opened up in the Ohio Senate’s second district. Montgomery ran and won both the 1988 race and her subsequent reelection in 1992. She sponsored more legislation than any other first-year senator during her first term.

At the urging of Jo Ann Davidson, then serving as Minority Leader of the Ohio House, Montgomery ran for Ohio Attorney General in 1994. She defeated incumbent Lee Fisher to become Ohio’s first woman Attorney General. Montgomery was re-elected in 1998.

As Attorney General, Montgomery was responsible for rebuilding Ohio’s crime labs and outfitted them all with DNA testing capabilities. In 2000, Montgomery's office received national recognition as America's most outstanding consumer protection agency. She was the only Attorney General in Ohio history to collect over $1 billion owed to the state.

In 2002 term limits prevented Montgomery from running again for Attorney General. She ran instead for Auditor of State, winning decisively and becoming the first woman in the post. In her first 18 months, Montgomery identified more than $180 million in misspent tax dollars.

Montgomery is currently Of Counsel at Mac Murray & Shuster LLP in New Albany. She chairs the Jo Ann Davidson Ohio Leadership Institute, which is committed to electing more Republican women to office. She is a member of both the Ohio and Columbus Bar Associations. Montgomery has received the YWCA Women of Achievement Award, the National Association of Consumer Agency Professionals Award, the BGSU Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Vern Riffe Executive-Legislative Leadership Award, the Ohio Bar Association’s Nettie Cronise Lutes Award, the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, the BGSU Alumni Centennial Award, and the League of Women Voters’ Democracy in Action Award. She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1996.