[ back ]
Lack of bonds trouble for elected officials
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - July 02, 2009)
Lack of bonds trouble for elected officials
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Two weeks ago, the Geauga County Prosecutor's Office sent out a call for all townships to provide copies of their elected officials' bonds. The bonds are required under Ohio law before a person can assume official duties.
Assistant Geauga County Prosecutor Susan Wieland said she could not discuss the matter further, citing attorney-client privilege. She said she made the request verbally to the townships she represents.
A month ago, Claridon Township Trustee Mary Briggs filed a civil lawsuit in Geauga County Common Pleas Court. One of her claims was that fellow Trustee David Brockway had failed to file a proper bond.
Ms. Wieland would not say whether the recent request was related.
Munson Township office manager Judy Toth said the request was unusual in its timing. Typically, the bonds are provided after an election and when a new candidate is required to submit one.
But a memo from Assistant County Prosecutor Bridey Matheney sheds light on why the request came at this time.
"Judge (Mark) Hassett has agreed to approve all bonds that are lacking approval as long as the prosecutor's office brings them to him en masse," she wrote to Bainbridge Township officials on June 16. "The prosecutor's office is gathering all bonds from the township board of trustees and fiscal officers to get them approved by Judge Hassett. Once they are approved, they will be returned to you."
Although it seems like a simple remedy, if lacking bonds are corrected, one former township trustee and attorney in the field of township law said the law is quite clear on the matter and led to the removal of officials in the past.
Mark Finamore, who runs Township Legal Counsel in Warren, said the law does not always allow for a no-harm, no-foul attitude and must be strictly applied. "It doesn't matter whether there was a good-faith effort or just an honest mistake was made," he said.
The section of Ohio law governing bonds says "a person elected or appointed to an office who is required by law to give a bond or security previous to the performance of duties imposed on him by his office, who refuses or neglects to give such bond or furnish such security within the time and in the manner prescribed by law, and in all respects to qualify himself for the performance of duties, is deemed to have refused to accept the office to which he was elected or appointed. Such office shall be considered vacant and shall be filled as provided by law."
Mr. Finamore, who served as Vienna Township trustee from 1986 to 2006, said the law did not allow for exceptions when the issue came up in Warren Township about 15 to 20 years ago.
At that time, he said, the township's fiscal officer was under suspicion of theft from the township. The assistant county prosecutor investigating the matter had pulled township records and learned that the three trustees had a problem.
Although they had obtained proper bonds, they failed to meet one of three criteria required by law. Rather than filing those bonds with the fiscal officer, they remained in the office of the insurer that had provided the bond.
"If they had only had them in the clerk's office, even just put on top of a filing cabinet it would have met the requirements," Mr. Finamore said. "But they were 10 miles down the road, and that made all the difference."
That minor infraction led to all three trustees being removed from office and replacements appointed, he said.
Mr. Finamore, whose firm represents 60 Northeast Ohio townships, said meeting the requirements for bonding is "the first thing I tell" newly elected officials.
Officials must obtain the bond, have it signed by a municipal or common pleas court judge and have it filed by the township fiscal officer, he said.
"It shows how sometimes you have to pay attention to the details," Mr. Finamore said, who serves as president of the Trumbull County Township Association.
[ back ]
