Local officials can only speculate the length and costs of Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly’s jury trial and the cost for the special grand jury trial that wrapped up last week.
Kelly was indicted Friday on 25 counts, including 23 felonies.
“There’s some (taxpayer) cost (covering the investigation), but we don’t have the exact number,” Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said, without specifying what exactly taxpayers are paying for. “I can’t speculate because there’s no way of knowing. We don’t have the Attorney General’s bills.”
Commissioner Charlie Adkins said, “With 23 felonies, I think (the costs) could be up there.”
Another cost to the county is the Ohio Supreme Court’s suspension proceeding, in which the court will decide whether Kelly should be suspended from holding office pending the results of the jury trial, said Dan Tierney, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
The attorney general called the special grand jury to convene in June and visited Athens on Friday to announce the indictment.
DeWine has to notify the court, and Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor should receive DeWine’s notification “early this week,” Tierney said.
If convicted, according to the Ohio Revised Code, a special commission — comprising three judges, one of whom must be a Democrat, the party Kelly belongs to — will be appointed by O’Connor.
From the time the chief justice receives DeWine’s notification of the indictment, the special commission must be appointed within 14 days. Then it will have 28 days to decide if Kelly should be suspended.
Kelly, a Democrat, cannot serve as sheriff if convicted of any felonies.
He could not be reached for comment by press time.
If he doesn’t resign or retire before the end of the Supreme Court process, the county will continue to pay his salary until the end of the suspension proceeding, Athens County Treasurer Bill Bias said, adding that Kelly’s salary is in the “high” $60,000 range.
According to the Ohio Revised Code, if Kelly, 63, is suspended from office, the Athens County Commissioners would appoint a temporary replacement until the county’s Democratic Central Committee, made up of public figures from throughout the county, can appoint an interim sheriff.
The interim sheriff would serve until the November 2014 election, Tierney said, when Athens citizens could vote to elect a new sheriff in a “special election,” given that voters wouldn’t have had to vote for a sheriff until 2016.
Adkins said he has heard from five people interested in replacing Kelly, and Eliason has spoken with one person; both refused to release names at this point.
Bias said he wanted everyone to remember that even if Kelly is suspended, he hasn’t been convicted of a crime.
“The wheels of justice are turning slowly,” Bias said. “Let’s all remember that all are innocent until proven guilty.”
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