Thursday, January 13, 2000
Butler's Holcomb raps 2nd official
GOP sees political reason for attacks
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — For the second time in less than a month, the Butler County prosecutor, a Democrat, has leveled ethics allegations against a Republican officeholder.
And, for the second time, the accused officeholder is calling for the prosecutor to be removed as the officeholder's legal adviser.
Prosecutor John F. Holcomb on Wednesday held a news conference to announce that he was filing an Ohio Ethics Commission complaint against Rob Lyons, a Butler County Area Court judge in Oxford. Mr. Lyons has served as an attorney for County Auditor Kay Rogers, who also is the subject of an ethics complaint that Mr. Holcomb lodged last month.
Accused of misusing her office for personal benefit, Ms. Rogers on Tuesday sent letters asking for Mr. Holcomb to be removed as her office's legal counsel; Judge Lyons said he intends to do the same.
The county Republican Party fired back with a statement: “Democrat Prosecutor John Holcomb is at it again, using his office as a bully pulpit in a meager attempt to keep his job. Holcomb continues to do exactly what he promised, which is to attack Republicans at every turn. ... The attacks are hollow and without merit.”
Mr. Holcomb, who faces a contested election this fall for the first time since 1988, alleges that Judge Lyons “personally profited from public money.” Judge Lyons said, “I don't feel anything I did was improper."
Mr. Holcomb says that Judge Lyons' law firm, Lyons & Lyons, took a 60 percent cut of fees paid to lawyer Robert C. Schweiterman, a former associate of the firm. Those fees came from a public fund set aside for defendants who are indigent and cannot afford their own attorneys.
Mr. Schweiterman had failed to file bills for those fees in “a whole stack” of cases, Mr. Holcomb said, until he left the firm and Judge Lyons told him to file for the fees. Some of the cases date to 1997, and it would be OK for the law firm to accept fees from those cases. But it would be improper to receive money from cases that ended after February 1999, when Judge Lyons was appointed to his judgeship, Mr. Holcomb said. He didn't have figures for how many of the fees were paid for 1999 cases.
“I'm not sure if this is illegal or not, but I think it is,” Mr. Holcomb said. “And whether it is or it isn't, it stinks.”
Robin Piper, who is running against Mr. Holcomb, said that, based on his knowledge of the situation, Judge Lyons did nothing wrong. He said it's common for attorneys to split fees with the firms where they are provided office space, secretarial help and health benefits.
Judge Lyons said he thought it would be inappropriate for him to respond to the specific allegations. But he took issue with the fact that Mr. Holcomb, who is supposed to serve as legal counsel for Judge Lyons and other county officeholders, made his statements to news reporters without contacting him first.
Mr. Holcomb said he didn't see a need to contact Judge Lyons.
“Why would I want to talk to him?” Mr. Holcomb asked. When a reporter suggested that Judge Lyons might have an explanation for the situation, Mr. Holcomb replied, “There's not explanation for that. What kind of explanation can there be for double-dipping?”
Judge Lyons says he found Mr. Holcomb's actions “highly irregular,” and he questioned Mr. Holcomb's professional ethics. Further, Judge Lyons said a conflict of interest might exist because Mr. Holcomb's office has cases pending in his court.
Judge Lyons said he would obtain legal counsel and would attempt to obtain the Ohio Supreme Court's guidance on the matter.
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