COLUMBUS — A state board says a Butler County attorney's license should be suspended for violating disciplinary rules.

        In a decision filed Wednesday,the Ohio Supreme Court's Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline said Michael Conese ought to be forbidden from practicing law for a year, with six months suspended.

        The Ohio Supreme Court's justices will decide whether to accept that recommendation. The process could take several months.

        Mr. Conese on Wednesday reserved comment until he has a chance to review the board's decision, but said he stands by his previous denials of any improper conduct.

        Mr. Conese's lawyer, George M. Parker, a new Mason Municipal Court judge, declined to comment.

        The board says Mr. Conese violated four sections of the state Code of Professional Responsibility for lawyers.

        In 1997, Mr. Conese deposited $1,000 of a client's intended child support payment into a checking account for his law firm, not a trust account, “and gave his client no accounting of these funds,” the board said. That violated two rules.

        The other two violations “involved deceit and misrepresentation” and “conduct (that) was prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the board said.

        However, the board cited factors mitigating punishment. Mr. Conese had never been in trouble and formerly served as a Hamilton Municipal Court judge. Also, the board said, “there was uncontradicted testimony by his brother that he enjoyed a good reputation for integrity, diligence and honesty in the Butler County area.”

        Mr. Conese's brother, Mark, is set for a May 13 trial on two criminal charges arising from a 2000 campaign-finance scandal. Already ousted from his post on the Butler elections board, Mark Conese also faces action from the Ohio Elections Commission.

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