By Cindi Andrews and Sharon Coolidge
Enquirer staff writers

A veteran judge called on Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen to step down Friday, the first public official to ask Allen to resign after he admitted this week to an extramarital affair with an employee.

"Nobody else has the backbone to say it, but he should resign," Judge Robert Ruehlman said. "His conduct was outrageous. A person in a position of power cannot have sexual relations with an employee."

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Allen vs. (fill in the blank)? Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, a Republican, is running unopposed for the office he has held since 1999. Deadlines for placing another candidate on the ballot have passed. • Write-in candidates could file at the Board of Elections by Sept. 13. Those candidates' names do not appear on the ballot; voters have to write them in. Only those who are accepted as write-in candidates will have their votes counted. • If Allen were to resign by Sept. 23, the Republican Party could replace him on the ballot with another candidate. If he were to resign after Sept. 23, it's unclear if or how he could be replaced on the ballot. Collins set to return to work on Monday Rebecca Collins, who sued prosecutor Mike Allen Thursday for sexual harassment, is expected to return to work Monday. She did not work this past week, having previously taken sick leave, said her direct supervisor, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Carl Stich. "We'll try to work it out so nothing is a problem for her," he said. Collins, 33, is an assistant prosecutor in the civil division of the prosecutor's office. She works on the 7th floor of the prosecutor's complex of offices on East Ninth Street, downtown. Allen works on the 8th floor. Collins earns $43,800 a year. Commissioners seek opinion on legal fees Hamilton County commissioners will seek a second opinion on whether the county has to pay for Allen's personal attorney, commissioner Todd Portune said Friday. "If we have to pay, we are in essence spending taxpayer dollars for conduct outside the scope of the office,'' he said. Prosecutor gets 'do not destroy' order Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Mark Schweikert issued a temporary order Friday forbidding the prosecutor's office and Allen from destroying certain records. Those records could relate to the extramarital relationship between Allen and Collins. The Cincinnati Enquirer asked for a number of records under the Ohio Public Records law. Enquirer attorney John B. Pinney told the judge that the order was necessary. "There is sufficient reason to believe the prosecutor's office removed or allowed to be removed a document that should be considered a public record," Pinney said. Stich argued that the order was unnecessary. Compiled by reporters Sharon Coolidge, Cindi Andrews and Dan Klepal

Ruehlman, a Hamilton County judge for more than a decade, is a fellow Republican and former assistant county prosecutor.

Allen, a 48-year-old married father of two, admitted Wednesday to a 31/2-year relationship that he called consensual with an assistant prosecutor.

Thursday, the assistant prosecutor - Rebecca Collins, 33 - sued Allen for sexual harassment in U.S. District Court, alleging that he used his position to coerce her into an affair. Allen said the allegations are "outrageous and false."

The sexual-harassment policy of the prosecutor's office forbids sexual relationships - even consensual - between boss and employee.

Allen's attorney, Michael Hawkins, said Friday that Allen stands by his comment Wednesday that the relationship with Collins, which he called "the worst mistake of my life," should not cost him his job.

"He does not believe having a consensual affair is basis for him or anyone else to resign their job," Hawkins said.

Hawkins said it's unfair for anyone to demand Allen's resignation based on the allegations in the lawsuit.

"This community should not be judging Mike in a negative way until the facts are out there," he said. "What if what she's saying is a lie?"

The Allen controversy has dominated talk radio for the past two days, but elected officials have been slow to take a position.

Republican leaders said it was either too soon for such a judgment or said it should be Allen's decision whether to resign. Some refused to say anything at all.

Democrats, meanwhile, began to contemplate whether they should offer voters an alternative to Allen in the November election. Allen is running unopposed for re-election, and most deadlines to challenge him have long passed. However, the deadline for write-in candidates is Sept.13.

If Allen were to resign by Sept. 23, the Republican Party could replace him on the ballot.

Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said there is interest in Democrats supporting a write-in candidate. "But if it happens, it will require major effort by the candidate and the party."

It's typically difficult for a write-in to win election against a candidate on the ballot because a majority of voters would have to literally pick up a pencil and write in the person's name.

Republican Party Chairman Michael Barrett refused to comment on Allen's predicament Friday, saying he has been focused on next week's Republican National Convention in New York City.

Allen is skipping the convention and will step down as chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Southwest Ohio. Allen is former chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party.

Republican Commissioner Phil Heimlich also declined comment, saying he doesn't want to imperil the county's legal position. Collins sued the county along with Allen, saying the county knew "unwelcomed sexual harassment was occurring due to the open and notorious nature of the harassment."

Some balanced concern about the allegations with a hesitance to rush to judgment.

"I can't pass judgment on either of them until all the facts are out," Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, said. "We have complete compassion for her if indeed she was sexually abused. But I know Mike Allen so well that this is hard to comprehend."

Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann, who is in charge of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Hamilton County and a former assistant to Allen , said it's premature to call for Allen's resignation as prosecutor.

But Ruehlman raised concerns about how effectively the prosecutor's office can operate amid the scandal.

Ruehlman said that under Allen, morale at the prosecutor's office is the lowest it has ever been.

"I know because I work with them," Ruehlman said. "Morale is horrible there. Then you have a situation where the boss is having sex with an employee, allegedly getting special favors.

"I know they don't want to say anything because they're afraid of him, afraid they'll be sent to Siberia, the child support division. There's a lot of fear over there."

Karl Kadon, Allen's top assistant, defended his boss.

"I challenge anyone to criticize his record of law enforcement and for making this community a safer place. I don't think anybody could have done a better job.''

Another supporter was Republican state Auditor Betty Montgomery.

"Mike Allen is a friend and an ally, and Betty Montgomery has reached out to him," said Mark Weaver, a spokesman for Montgomery, an expected candidate for governor in 2006. "Her thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family."

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Reporter Dan Horn contributed. E-mail candrews@enquirer.com and scoolidge@enquirer.com