BATAVIA — Clermont County officials are considering ways to recover part of the salary of long-time coroner Dr. Nico Capurro, who resigned after it was revealed that he was working a second job at a rehabilitation clinic in Manchester, Ohio.

        “I feel as though we were duped into thinking he was going to be full-time,” said Mary Walker, president of the three-member Clermont County Commission. “A public trust has been violated. And because public funds were involved, the money must be repaid somehow.”

        Dr. Capurro, 75, resigned July 26 after news emerged of a federal search warrant that was executed in late June at the Manchester clinic. Police said he had been working there for about five weeks before the warrant was carried out.

        Whether or not his medical activities violated any laws, the fact that Dr. Capurro had any sort of outside work appears to violate state law that prohibits full-time county coroners from having private practices, according to county prosecutor Don White.

        Dr. Capurro, who was first appointed coroner in 1971 then re-elected ever since, sued the county commission in late 2000 to force them to give him full-time pay. As a result, his salary more than doubled from $43,676 as a part-time coroner in 2000 to $102,000 this year.

        As part of the dispute, Dr. Capurro wrote a letter in Nov. 2000 stating that he “shall no longer engage in the private practice of medicine.”

        Mrs. Walker said it would be up to Mr. White to decide what sort of action to take. “But I think the county funds need to be recouped,” she said.

        Mr. White said legal options include seeking a finding from the state auditor that Dr. Capurro received funds inappropriately and then pursuing a civil lawsuit to collect or seeking criminal charges of theft in office. But with the resignation occurring just last week, it was too early to say which option, if any, would be appropriate, he said.

        Neither Dr. Capurro, nor his lawyer, R. Scott Croswell III, returned calls Thursday.

        The outcome of the salary dispute could affect more than Dr. Capurro's immediate salary. His pension also could be affected because Ohio's Public Employees Retirement System bases benefit payments in part on a calculation of a retiree's final average salary.

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