Candidate Profile: Roberta Walton Johnson

Roberta Walton Johnson, general counsel for Orange County Clerk of Courts, has worked in public service her entire life. The Ocoee mom of two told VoxPopuli in a phone interview that she was “bit by the bug” of public service during a law school lecture on housing. That moment led her to eventually join Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida where she worked as a public benefits attorney.

The job changed her life. It was where Walton Johnson, 52, met and forged a lifelong friendship with Tiffany Moore Russell, candidate for Orange County Mayor. The two have worked side-by-side for decades, at Community Legal Services and in county government. Walton Johnson was her senior aide when Moore Russell was an Orange County Commissioner and joined her at the Clerk’s Office to manage the new Lydia Gardner Self Help Center, which offers low-cost legal assistance.

When Moore Russell, the outgoing Clerk of Courts, announced her resignation to run for mayor, Walton Johnson told VoxPopuli the “unexpected vacancy,” prompted her to toss her proverbial hat into the ring. It will be her third attempt at elected office — her 2014 and 2022 campaigns for Orange County Commission both ended in losses.

The nonpartisan election on Aug. 18 is a four-way race between Walton Johnson; Orange County Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero; former Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh; and tech consultant Terrell S. Thomas. Clerks of Court serve four-year terms and earn  $161,796 annually.

“I am the only candidate on your ballot who is a licensed attorney. I’m the only candidate on your ballot who has any clerk, administrative or operational experience with the Clerk’s office,” Walton Johnson said during her 90-second elevator pitch to voters at the African American Chamber of Commerce of Florida Hob Nob on June 30. She won the straw poll that evening as well as the straw poll held during the Orange County Fire Fighters Association Hob Nob on July 7. She’s been endorsed by the West Orange Political Alliance.

But there’s been some drama around her candidacy. Florida Politics reported recently about a 1996 felony check-cashing scheme involving 246 stolen undeliverable IRS refund checks worth $230,000 that Walton Johnson was caught up in when she was 20. Working as a bank teller, Walton Johnson cashed 32 stolen checks for other participants in the scheme. To avoid a lengthy prison sentence and a hefty fine, she cut a deal with the federal government and helped agents make their case  against the rest of the criminal conspirators. Instead of 15 years of prison and a $500,000 fine, Walton Johnson ended up with five years probation, an order to repay the money … and a second chance.

“I subjected myself to the Florida Bar and that is complete scrutiny from A to Z. I have shown people that the incident that occurred when I was 20 does not define who I am,” Johnson told Florida Politics.

Here, Walton Johnson answers questions from VoxPopuli and the News Collaborative of Central Florida.

If elected, what are the three most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them?

1. Expanding access to justice. Every resident deserves equal access to the courts, regardless of income or whether they have an attorney. As Clerk, I will continue expanding customer-focused services, improving court navigation resources, and ensuring residents can access the information and assistance they need with dignity, professionalism, and respect.

2. Modernizing services and technology. Orange County continues to grow, and the Clerk's Office must keep pace. I will champion technology improvements that make services more efficient, accessible, and user-friendly while reducing wait times, streamlining processes, and improving online access to court services and information.

3. Protecting public records and public trust. Residents deserve confidence that their court records are secure, accurate, and managed responsibly. As Clerk, I will protect the integrity of public records, ensure taxpayer dollars are used wisely, and uphold the transparency and accountability that Orange County residents expect from their government.

Why are you running now?

With Clerk Russell making the decision to resign the seat, it left a vacancy. And with the role and exposure that I have, first starting in operations, leading the self-help center effort, learning every step of operations from beginning to end, and then rising to clerk administration and training others throughout the state as it relates to case types, tools, and exactly what we do procedurally has placed me into, in my opinion, the best position to run for the seat. I am the only licensed attorney running for this seat right now.

Why do you deserve to elected in this race?

I have dedicated my career to serving others and helping residents navigate some of the most important moments in their lives. From representing underserved families through legal services, to serving in local government, nonprofit leadership, private practice, and more than a decade in leadership within the Clerk’s Office, my work has always been focused on ensuring government is more accessible, responsive, and accountable. As general counsel for the Orange County Clerk’s Office, I work every day on the legal, operational, and policy issues that impact our courts and the public we serve. These experiences have given me a deep understanding of the Clerk’s responsibilities and how this office can better serve our community. I am ready to lead on day one and continue building a Clerk’s Office that residents can trust to deliver professional, efficient, and transparent service.

Clerk Russell resigned her office to run for Orange County Mayor. If elected, do you want to finish her work or put your own stamp on the office?

Clerk Russell has done amazing work to bring attention to the clerk's office out in the community.That's extremely important, because what I found is so many people really don't understand the role of the Clerk of Courts and the services that we offer and the role that we play as the gateway to our judicial system. I certainly will be expanding that, but I also think it's important to meet people exactly where they are. Right now, we currently have branch offices, but I think having additional partnerships to take our services out into the community and become more of a mobile arm, I think, is extremely important because there are barriers to people coming to us sometimes.

I feel like we are growing by leaps and bounds, and so many of our services, many of our resources, I want to make sure that they are reaching every section of our community, so I want to make sure that they're multilingual, right, and so that everyone has an opportunity and feels like they have, they have the opportunity to access the courts.

There are some opportunities to shift certain policies. I can tell you I am prepared to work with Senator Smith's office on seeing if we could get something in place when people have evictions filed against them, but they later go settle them. How can we get that removed? Create some kind of diversion program for those individuals to have that removed, so that they don't walk around forever with that scar in their background, considering they were able to work something out with their landlord.