LADIES' GALLERY

Sandra Stabile Harwood was elected in 2002 to serve Trumbull County. Harwood regularly champions the causes of children, seniors, health care, economic development and equality. The Niles native and practicing attorney graduated from Kent State University with a bachelor's degree in business administration then earned her law degree from the University of Akron. Her passion for protecting children led her to a decade of service for the Trumbull County Child Support Enforcement Agency. She also served as president of the Ohio Family Support Association and was recently reelected to serve as the Ohio State Director for the National Foundation for Women Legislators.

Her work on behalf of children followed her to the Ohio House of Representatives. Rep. Harwood has sponsored legislation concerning health-insurance costs in child support orders, and she has fought for regulations of child and youth care workers. For her tireless advocacy for children, the Ohio Child Support Director Association named Rep. Harwood its 2006 Legislator of the Year. She received the Breast Cancer Hero Award from the Ohio Breast Cancer Coalition in 2005 for legislation that provided funding for breast cancer research and assistance for victims. Rep. Harwood has also fought for expanding health-care options for school employees, a motor fuel tax exemption for schools, regulations for construction and demolition debris facilities, economic growth and development, and expansion of the Passport program for seniors. She led the effort to remove derogatory terms toward African-Americans from the Ohio Revised Code and broaden the prohibition of discrimination in the state.

Harwood is a graduate of the Fellowship Program of the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership at the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin. Harwood serves on the following House committees:

-Judiciary (chair),

-Aging and Disability Services,

-Civil and Commercial Law,

-Insurance, and

-The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.

Biography courtesy of the Ohio House of Representatives, 2009.