“Have we got issues?”
That was the question Glouster Police Chief Lucas Mace first asked Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly when he entered the sheriff’s office on Oct. 12.
The issue was a campaign sign in Mace’s front lawn supporting Kelly’s Republican challenger Steve Kane.
“You got a Kane sign in your yard. If you guys think that he could make a good sheriff, that’s a problem,” Kelly said to Mace in an audio recording obtained through a request to Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn.
Mace recorded the conversation between himself and Kelly on an audio recorder, Blackburn said. Mace sent Blackburn a CD of the conversation to review for potential criminal activity.
On Monday, Blackburn said he had reviewed the recording and closed the matter because Kelly hadn’t committed a criminal act, according to a letter Blackburn sent to Mace.
“If there was criminal activity, or even a potential for criminal activity, I would have sought a special prosecutor,” Blackburn wrote in the letter. “The CD does not contain criminal act as there was no specific request for service made by your office.”
Kelly declined to comment and Mace could not be reached for comment.
Throughout the recorded conversation, Kelly was critical of the Kane sign on Mace’s lawn, but Kelly said he would support the Glouster Police Department if the department ever needed assistance.
“You’re the chief, and (the sheriff’s office) will support you … 100 percent,” Kelly said. “You need something, we will be there.”
Mace said his wife wanted the Kane sign after Kane had asked the couple to put the sign in the yard.
Kane also said it was Mace’s wife who wanted the sign.
“(Mace) told me, ‘My wife supports you,’ and I said, ‘That’s great,’ and shook his hand,” Kane said. “I told them thank you, and (Mace) said he’d give the sign to his wife.”
But when Mace told that story to Kelly two weeks ago, Kelly said, “You can blame it on your wife, but I’m the man in my house — my wife doesn’t put something up if I say, ‘Nuh-uh.’ ”
Regardless of who put up the sign, Kelly said there were politics involved.
“You support the other guy, you’re not supporting me. So don’t expect me to jump over hills and support you when you’ve got a Kane sign in your yard,” Kelly said.
Despite the comments, Blackburn said Kelly didn’t commit a crime because Kelly didn’t deny a specific request from Mace.
“Mace didn’t ask for anything that the sheriff didn’t do. It was more of a general conversation about conduct,” Blackburn said. “The sheriff and Mace are both adults and they both had their own conversation. It seemed that they were speaking more on a personal level.”
It is not inappropriate for police chiefs to support candidates in political races, Blackburn said, adding that, according to Ohio law, it was legal for Mace to record the conversation.
“They have the right to be politically active,” Blackburn said. “But they’re going to have to work with whoever wins.”
Kane said he had no involvement in Mace’s recording the conversation, and that he had first heard about the conversation when an Athens NEWS reporter contacted him for a comment.
“This is all new to me, but I have talked to an attorney and there is a possibility of me doing some legal action,” Kane said. “I find it pretty sick that our elected sheriff has used his office with ethical and professional dismay. Shame on you.”
jj360410@ohiou.edu
