LOGAN — Tuesday afternoon, County Prosecutor Ryan Black submitted his resignation, in the wake of a lawsuit by two female former employees of the office, alleging sex discrimination in the workplace.
The move came one day before a deadline for his resignation set by the county Republican Party, after which the party planned to seek his removal from office, through a process laid out in Ohio Revised Code Section 309.05.
The resolution by the party, of which Black is a member, came late in February, and called the prosecutor “a disgrace to our entire county… instead of stopping corruption, you perpetrated it.”
In a statement to The Logan Daily News, Republican officials claimed that, with the help of local attorney Ryan Shepler, they have drafted a 26-page complaint detailing “wanton and willful neglect of duty and gross misconduct in office,” accompanied by affidavits of five individuals with knowledge of the workplace culture under Black.
Following Black’s decision, the question naturally arose: who would be appointed to replace him? Further complicating the matter was Tuesday’s primary election, where Black was still one of four Republican candidates for prosecutor, an office unopposed by Hocking County Democrats in November.
Party Chair Michael Harris, who is also a member of the county’s Board of Elections, said it was “unfortunate that Mr. Black’s resignation did not come before the voters cast their ballots to elect a new prosecuting attorney. With what was a four-way race for the position, Mr. Black’s inaction during the election cycle could have unfortunate effects on the results.”
The Logan Daily News attempted to contact Black through his office, but has received no response since his resignation.
The soon-to-be former prosecutor ended up finishing fourth, with around 13% of the total vote. Jennifer Graham, an assistant prosecuting attorney in Vinton County with a private practice set up in Logan, ended up winning the race with nearly 42% of the vote, 16 points ahead of second place.
After Tuesday’s results, The Logan Daily News spoke with Harris about what impact, if any, the primary results would have on the party’s appointment after Black’s resignation.
As in previous cases over the past year, including the replacements of the late county Commissioner Gary Waugh and indicted Commissioner Jessica Dicken, the vote requires at least 12 of the county’s 18 elected central committee members to be present, and the winner to achieve only a simple majority.
For Harris, and the “half-dozen or so” members of the party he’s spoken with since Tuesday, the matter is fairly straightforward.
“It should be a fast meeting,” he said of the pending appointment. “The voters picked a good candidate (in Graham), and we have no intention of going against that decision.” Harris threw further support behind Graham, calling her “a fresh voice, someone outside the situation around Hocking County… not super political, just a good, hard-working attorney.”
The Logan Daily News reached out to Graham, who still lists herself as an employee of Vinton County, but received no response by press time. However, assuming she accepts the position, she seems the likely next prosecuting attorney of Hocking County, as soon as late April.
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