Judge Akers is a Kanawha County native and 1992 graduate of George Washington High School. She has a 1995 bachelor’s degree in Journalism from West Virginia University. She graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1999.

Judge Akers practiced law in Kanawha County for over twenty years, most of that time in the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney's Office where she served as Chief of Staff, Special Assistant United States Attorney and a Senior Assistant Prosecutor. Judge Akers also worked as a private attorney, has served as General Counsel to the West Virginia Ethics Commission, and as a West Virginia Assistant Attorney General.

Judge Akers work as a prosecutor has been profiled on Sirens Media for ID Channel; Nightmare Next Door, Season 2, Episode 216 “Writing on the Wall”; Sirens Media for ID Channel; Evil Kin, Episode 102 “The Mallo Family”; The Killing Season; Season 1, Episode 6 “A Killer on the Road”; Talos Films; Heart of Darkness; and Season 1, Episode 1, “Lust for Murder”. She has also appeared on CNN, Tonight with Don Lemon, July 27, 2015; “The Shocking Story of a Woman Who Fought Back Against Suspected Serial Killer – And Lived To Tell About It.”

Judge Akers has served on the community boards of Daymark, Charleston Area Medical Center and Harmony Health. She has also served on the board of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the West Virginians Against Violence Committee and the West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice. Judge Akers was a Commissioner for the West Virginia State Elections Commission from 2020 to 2021. She has also given multiple presentations for West Virginia Handle with Care and other agencies.

Judge Akers was named a West Virginia Rising Star by Virginia & West Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine, 2009. She was awarded a United States Attorney Award for Distinguished Service, United States Attorney, SDWV, 2011 and was named as one of West Virginia’s Lawyers & Leaders by West Virginia Executive Magazine and West Virginia University College of Law in 2020.

Judge Akers is licensed to practice in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, United States District Court, SDWV and the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

She is married to Charleston attorney JB Akers, they have three children.