COLUMBIANA COUNTY Commissioners seeking legal opinion on travel

Vindicator stories have exposed extravagant spending during official travel.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- At a time when some Columbiana County officials are calling for more oversight of governmental travel, county commissioners are wondering if they'll continue a longtime policy of reviewing trip requests for approval.
Commissioners will be seeking an opinion from the county prosecutor's office regarding whether they have the right to reject travel plans, Commissioner Chairman Jim Hoppel said Monday.
For years, most department heads have submitted travel requests to commissioners that outline the purpose of a proposed trip, who would be going and the travel's estimated costs.
Commissioners occasionally question travel planning and sometimes delay requests for more information from the officeholder wanting to go. Rarely are the requests rejected outright.
But travel in county government is being scrutinized more intently by county officials since Vindicator stories May 2 outlined extravagant practices.
Taxpayers have been billed for county government officials' business trips to tourist destinations, stays in premium hotels and resorts, meals unsupported by itemized receipts and lodging in Columbus for officials who travel there for one-day events.
What happened
A criminal probe and state audit was prompted by the newspaper's coverage of county health Commissioner Robert Morehead's use of a county-issued credit card for personal buys.
The day after the story ran, Commissioners Hoppel and Gary Williams promised more travel oversight by commissioners.
Hoppel went as far as proposing having officials appear before them during their weekly meetings to justify questionable travel requests.
Hoppel said last week that commissioners have the right to scrap unnecessary travel.
Now it appears that may be untrue, he said Monday.
After researching travel rules to learn more in the wake of the controversy, Hoppel said, "We're not sure we can turn down travel. The ORC [Ohio Revised Code] doesn't give us the authority."
Commissioners will seek to confirm that through a prosecutor's opinion, he added.
Hoppel said that commissioners have fielded travel requests for years because it was traditional to do so, and officials believed approval was needed for insurance reasons, which apparently isn't so, Hoppel said.
If commissioners do not have authority to approve travel, requests might stop passing through their weekly meetings, which are routinely covered by the press. Such a change might make it more difficult to determine who's going where.
Commissioners will consider asking department heads to continue advising them of their travel plans, Hoppel said.