AG withdraws criminal charges against Greene commissioner, county solicitor
news@greenecountymessenger.com
The criminal charges filed last month against Greene County Commissioner Mike Belding and the county鈥檚 solicitor have been dropped in connection with how the elections board handled the ballot order selection process for the upcoming primary election.
The state Attorney General鈥檚 office on Wednesday withdrew all charges in both cases against Belding and Robert 鈥淕ene鈥� Grimm after Greene County District Attorney David Russo鈥檚 chief detective filed more than a dozen misdemeanors against them April 4 following irregularities with the 鈥渃asting of lots鈥� for the primary.
鈥淭he Office of Attorney General conducted an independent investigation and thorough review of the facts and the law, and found that the filed complaints are not sufficiently supported,鈥� AG spokesperson Brett Hambright said Thursday.
The charges stemmed from complaints by several Republican candidates over how the county鈥檚 elections office conducted the process to pick the order in which candidate names are to appear on the ballot for the May 16 primary.
The original ballot selection on March 15 was nullified after the Greene County Republican Party Committee complained that the proceeding鈥檚 date was not properly advertised in two local newspapers as required by election law, prompting a second casting of lots on March 23.
Several candidates protested that second drawing, including Russo, who is running for reelection, and refused to pull a number when it was their time. Instead of having an elections office worker merely select for them as is custom in those circumstances, a decision apparently was made by Belding, Grimm and the elections staff to drop those candidates to the bottom of the ballot in their particular race.
But rather than any of the protesting candidates filing a legal challenge with the Greene County Court of Common Pleas in an attempt to have the questionable ballot selection process overturned, Russo鈥檚 chief detective, Zachary Sams, opened a criminal investigation into the matter. A day after the charges were filed on April 4, Russo said he had referred the cases to the Attorney General鈥檚 office for prosecution.
Belding and fellow Greene County Commissioners Betsy Rohanna-McClure and Blair Zimmerman issued a joint statement Thursday that they were 鈥減leased鈥� the Attorney General鈥檚 office decided to drop the case, but added that they were still troubled by the criminal charges being brought against two public officials in what they described as an 鈥渆xtremely unusual development.鈥�
鈥淭his is not the first time the Commissioners and District Attorney have clashed and it is deeply concerning as we continue to accrue concerns about the District Attorney鈥檚 Office,鈥� the commissioners said in their joint statement.
The commissioners also accused Russo of 鈥渂latantly misrepresenting facts in public statements鈥� in the past.
鈥淭he commissioners recognize that elected officials have an inherent autonomy of their office鈥檚 operations, but not at the expense of the truth, risk of victims and witnesses, violations of county policies, financial irresponsibility or jeopardizing the health and safety of county residents and visitors,鈥� the commissioner said.
Grimm resigned as the county鈥檚 attorney shortly after the charges were filed, and an interim solicitor was brought in to assist the commissioners over the past month. Belding indicated Thursday the commissioners plan to rehire Grimm now that the criminal cases against have been dropped.
Grimm said in an email Thursday that he planned to file a motion seeking the courts to remove Russo as district attorney for the 鈥渃ommission of his crimes in maliciously prosecuting Commissioner Belding and myself without any basis in fact or law.鈥� He declined further comment on the matter.
Belding, 59, of Whiteley Township, and Grimm, 67, of Smithfield, were facing four misdemeanor counts each of failure to perform duty, hindering performance of duty, unlawful assistance in voting and official oppression. Online court records show all of the charges have been withdrawn and their cases are now listed as closed.