Attorney general’s office says it is reviewing ethics investigation involving Trumbull engineer

Staff report

WARREN

A spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office has confirmed that it is reviewing an Ohio Ethics Commission investigation at the request of the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office regarding county Engineer Randy Smith.

Dan Kasaris, a senior assistant AG, has been reviewing the information for the past couple of weeks, said Dan Tierney, AG spokesman.

The review is ongoing, and Tierney said he could not comment “on how the case will end up as far as a final disposition.” He said he also could not comment on the nature of the investigation.

Smith could not be reached to comment for this story.

Speakers at a county commissioners meeting last month alleged that an ethics commission investigation had been turned over to Watkins, but the prosecutor declined initially to comment on the matter.

His office issued a news release May 24 saying that it had informed the AG’s office and ethics commission in November 2013 that it was disqualified from engaging in, assisting in, or evaluating any investigation of Smith or his office.

It would be a conflict because the prosecutor’s office represents the engineer’s office in legal matters, the news release said.

The ethics investigation may be the same one that resulted in search warrants being executed at Smith’s offices on North River Road and the computer services office in the county administration building on Courthouse Square April 3, 2014.

An AG spokesman at the time said the search was carried out by the ethics commission and Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which is a division of the AG’s office.

Court documents later explained the search was done to investigate whether Smith had a conflict of interest because of $390,727 he earned in 2011 by signing a gas and oil lease with BP America; and whether employee Greg Alberini Sr., Smith’s road supervisor, improperly supervised Alberini’s son, Greg Alberini Jr.