Judge agrees to sealing of Hill's record

There was no testimony at the brief hearing.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Former Youngstown Councilman Herman Hill is expected to start the new year as a man with no criminal record.
Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court said Tuesday he would sign a court entry to seal Hill's criminal record. The judge then congratulated Hill.
Hill declined to comment after the brief hearing, during which there was no testimony.
Judge Pike, Hill's lawyer Walter Madison and Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains spent most of the hearing making sure they agreed on the law and the needed paperwork.
Madison will prepare an entry that Judge Pike will send to the appropriate Mahoning County law enforcement agencies notifying them that Hill's case has been sealed.
Madison said he would get it to Gains within a week for his signature. It will then go to Judge Pike, whose signature will make it official.
Madison said after the hearing that he plans to get the entry done this year, "rather than have anything carry over in 2006."
1997 theft in office
Hill was sentenced in 1997 for theft in office while he was serving as Youngstown's 3rd-Ward councilman. He served 10 days in a halfway house for using a fake receipt to cover up his using a city credit card to withdraw more than $2,400 to buy a computer for his personal use.
Hill is the coordinator of YouthBuild, a federally funded program that provides education and life and construction skills.
Madison told Judge Pike that Hill met the legal requirements of correction, rehabilitation and being deterred from other crimes. Since Hill's legal troubles, he has obtained a master's degree, and he has only the one offense.
"That was an aberration in his life," Madison said.
Gains said he had no opposition to Hill's bid.
Hill originally had filed the request in Mahoning County, but the common pleas court judges there declined to hear it. Gains said he did not know why.
Letters of support
Madison also gave Judge Pike letters from Youngstown ministers who supported Hill's request. A handful of supporters, including former Youngstown Councilman Herman "Pete" Starks, attended the hearing. The supporters briefly prayed in the courtroom before the hearing.
No decision was made on whether Hill could again hold a public office.
Gains told the judge he believed that Hill could be a public employee after the sealing. But because of other court rulings, he may not be able to hold a public office that involves handling money, the prosecutor added. Gains said any decision on that issue would have to be made by the attorney for the public body hiring him.
wilkinson@vindy.com