By Erica Solvig
Enquirer Staff Writer

LEBANON - The Warren County auditor and a former Deerfield Township trustee have been charged with driving under the influence in separate incidents.

Auditor Nick Nelson and Bill Morand, a former township trustee and now president of Deerfield's storm water board, were scheduled for arraignments Thursday afternoon in Lebanon Municipal Court, but have had their cases continued. Both public officials were stopped by Warren County sheriff's deputies this week, had their licenses suspended and their cars towed, according to police reports. (Police can confiscate a driver's license on the spot if the suspect has a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more.)

A written plea of not guilty was entered in Nelson's case, according to the municipal court clerk's office.

Nelson, 57, was pulled over Monday night after deputies said he weaved across the center line several times on Ohio 63 in Lebanon. Breath tests showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.181, records said. Ohio's legal limit is 0.08.

Deputies said in the report that Nelson was disoriented, had difficulty rolling down the window and opening the car door, and couldn't keep his head straight when officers tested him. The police report states Nelson told officers that he had been drinking wine and had been at a class reunion.

He also told officers, "But I've told the sheriff to keep a bed open for me" before they let him go on his own recognizance, according to the report. Nelson is also charged with a lane violation for weaving.

Nelson is out of his office until next week. A man who identified himself as his son said Nelson had left his Oregonia home Thursday morning for a lake in Tennessee.

Nelson was first elected auditor in 1986, and most recently re-elected in an uncontested election in 2002.

State records show Morand has drunken-driving convictions in 1982 and 1989. He was pulled over early Thursday for going 68 mph in a 55 mph zone on southbound Ohio 741 in Turtlecreek Township. Breath tests showed 48-year-old Morand had a blood-alcohol level of 0.129.

Morand also is charged with speeding and not wearing a seat belt.

This will be Morand's second speeding violation in 12 months, reports show. He also had a speeding conviction in 1999, according to state driving records.

Morand was trustee for eight years before he was defeated in November's election.

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com