COLUMBIANA COUNTY Visiting judge to preside over attorney's hearing

A special prosecutor is being requested.
LISBON -- A visiting judge will preside over a hearing for Atty. Carl Joseph King in Columbiana County Municipal Court in Lisbon.
King, 52, of East Sixth Street, East Liverpool, is charged with assault, a fourth-degree felony. The hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 21.
Authorities say King struck Trooper Jim Oakes on Nov. 1 at the Ohio State Highway Patrol post in Lisbon.
King was at the post because troopers had arrested the woman in whose car King was riding, charging her with driving under the influence of alcohol.
The woman was taken to the post, where she kept trying to leave, authorities said.
Oakes was trying to stop her from leaving, and King tried to shove him, authorities said.
King struck Oakes as the trooper attempted to handcuff him, authorities said.
Besides the assault offense, King also is charged with misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, which stem from the confrontation with the trooper.
King will appear before visiting Judge Richard Powell, who is retired from Steubenville Municipal Court.
Conflict of interest
Columbiana County Municipal Court judges Robert Roberts and Mark Frost asked the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a visiting judge, citing a potential conflict of interest. King appears before the judges as a defense attorney.
Earlier this week, county Prosecutor Robert Herron asked Judge David Tobin, county common pleas court administrative judge, to appoint a special prosecutor to try King.
In a motion asking that the appointment be made, Herron said King serves as an attorney with the Columbiana County Criminal Defense Corp., a private, nonprofit agency that provides representation to indigents charged with criminal offenses.
King also maintains a private law practice through which he handles criminal and juvenile matters, Herron said.
"These circumstances create a substantial conflict of interest," Herron wrote in his motion.
Judge Tobin is considering the request.
The county would have to pay the cost of hiring a special prosecutor.