By Cindi Andrews,
Sharon Coolidge and Dan Horn
Enquirer staff writers

Hamilton County commissioners Phil Heimlich (right) and John Dowlin during discussion of the Mike Allen scandal Monday. Heimlich said that if Allen worked for him, he'd be fired. (Gary Landers photo)

RELATED COVERAGE

• Full text of the resolution • Editorial: Let investigation play out • Jim Borgman cartoon • Complete coverage

Saying Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen violated the public's trust, the county commissioners unanimously voted Monday to hire a prominent Dayton lawyer to oversee an investigation into Allen's conduct.

"If this was someone who worked for us, we would fire that person," said Commissioner Phil Heimlich, a fellow Republican.

The commissioners' actions late Monday were the first they've taken in the burgeoning scandal over Allen's affair with assistant prosecutor Rebecca Collins.

Allen, 48, admitted to a 31/2 -year sexual relationship last week that he termed consensual. Collins filed a federal lawsuit against Allen and the county the next day, accusing him of using his office to coerce her into the affair.

Fallout continued Monday while both Allen and Collins returned to work.

The commissioners said they would not pay Allen's legal fees, noting that he violated his office's policy against sex between a supervisor and an employee.

"We have no intention of having taxpayers pay for his defense," Commissioner Todd Portune said.

Commissioners also said they will ask a court to make Allen pay their legal fees and any judgment against the county on the grounds that his actions were outside the scope of his office.

"There has been no determination that anything she says is true," Allen's lawyer, Michael Hawkins, responded late Monday.

The commissioners hired two lawyers - Roger Makley and Bill Markovits - to represent the county in the case. Makley is a Dayton lawyer whose past clients include Pete Rose and the Rev. Thomas Kuhn, a former Elder High School principal who was convicted of public indecency in suburban Dayton. Markovits, a Cincinnati lawyer, has done legal work for the commissioners for about a year.

Makley will hire an independent investigator to look into whether Allen or anyone else violated the office's policies or any laws. If violations are found, the board may seek a special prosecutor or refer the matter to the U.S. attorney, the commissioners' resolution said.

Each of the three commissioners asked Allen's office to cooperate with the investigation. However, the prosecutor's office plans its own outside investigation, and Assistant Prosecutor Carl Stich was skeptical of the commissioners' plans Monday.

"The prosecuting attorney has said he will cooperate with an independent investigation," Stich said. "Whether this is an independent investigation is a separate question. This is an office that has no authority to investigate crimes saying they're going to investigate whether there's been a crime. I must be missing something here."

The commissioners can't force Allen's office to cooperate. He is independently elected to his $110,000-a-year job and answers to no one except voters. He is running unopposed for re-election this year, and it's too late for any other candidates to run except as write-ins.

State law allows citizens to seek removal of a public office-holder for dereliction of duty, but no such claim has been filed and it's unclear who would determine its validity.

The presiding county Common Pleas Court judge can appoint a special prosecutor, but in the past, that has always been done at the prosecutor's request.

Presiding Judge Thomas Crush said he's looking at the law to see what power the judges have, but it is too soon for judges to call for an investigation.

"This has never been done before," Crush said.

Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Niehaus likened appointing a special prosecutor to "unleashing the dogs."

"If you start investigating, we'd have to set limits on what we wanted them to do," Niehaus said.

He echoed Crush in saying it's too soon: "I don't know if we have enough information to act. It is obviously a situation that is very complex, and it's troubling that there would be some cloud over the prosecutor's office for an extended period of time."

Nate Livingston, a community activist and co-chairman of Coalition For a Just Cincinnati, sent a letter to Crush asking that a special prosecutor be appointed.

"No one should be allowed to operate above the law," Livingston wrote. "If we don't want people to lose faith in the criminal justice system, the court must insist that the laws are equally enforced in this county."

Livingston also wrote to Gov. Bob Taft, asking him to remove Allen from the University of Cincinnati's Board of Trustees, a position he has held since 1997, because Collins was a law student there during part of their relationship.

A spokeswoman in the governor's office said no action has been taken.

Collins, 33, accused Allen of seducing her almost from the outset of her job as an intern in June 1999.

The lawsuit portrays Allen, a married father of two and the county's top law-enforcement official, as a manipulator who routinely summoned her to his office for sex.

Collins also says her fellow employees, as well as other county officials, knew she was a victim of sexual harassment but did nothing.

Before filing the lawsuit Thursday, Collins made an internal written complaint outlining the allegations that prompted her lawyer and Allen's lawyer to start negotiations.

In the lawsuit, she asked for lost pay and benefits and to be granted promotions she says she was denied. She also wants compensatory and punitive damages.

Portune said it's premature to call for Allen's resignation, but the prosecutor should consider a leave until the situation is resolved.

"I'm concerned about the ability of the office to function as an office," he said.

Allen returned to work Monday after spending Thursday and Friday with his family.

He e-mailed employees to let them know he was back.

"I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who have expressed support for my family and me over the past few difficult days," Allen wrote. "I can't begin to tell you how much your support means to me."

Collins, too, returned to work. She had no trial work scheduled but did legal research on her cases.

Stich, her supervisor, said he is doing everything possible to ensure that she feels comfortable at work.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com, scoolidge@enquirer.com, dhorn @enquirer.com

Go online to read the complete text of the commissioners' resolution and read previous Enquirer coverage.

Keyword: Mike Allen