Suit: Sheriff used taxes for new jail campaign

A county cannot use public funds to communicate
information that supports or opposes a levy or bond.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A lawsuit accuses Hamilton County’s sheriff of using taxpayer money and public resources to campaign for a sales tax increase that would raise money for a new jail.

Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. should be forced to return county money he’s spent promoting the issue, which will appear the November ballot, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Leis e-mailed employees on Aug. 10 to urge their support for the sales tax increase, and he posted “Support the New Jail” signs on sheriff’s office vehicles that took part in a parade earlier this month, the lawsuit said.

Ohio law forbids a county from using public funds to communicate information that supports or opposes the passage of a levy or bond issue.

Quotable

“The heart of this case is whether public officials can use public property and resources to engage in advocacy for a tax issue or referendum or anything on the ballot,” said attorney Curt Hartman, who filed the suit on behalf of Cincinnati stockbroker Brian Shrive.

Hartman has represented the anti-tax group Citizens Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxation, which has opposed the tax increase. Shrive, 33, has helped circulate petitions against the increase.

The sheriff’s spokesman, Steve Barnett, said Friday that Leis would not comment on pending litigation.

“He has said before that he didn’t use county money to pay for the signs or letters. He used his own money ... campaign funds,” Barnett said.

The ballot issue proposes a 0.5 percent tax increase to fund construction of a 1,800-bed jail and public safety programs. Voters defeated a similar increase last November.