Homrighausen will continue to receive salary during suspension

DOVER — Thanks to a provision in the Ohio Revised Code, Mayor Richard Homrighausen will continue to receive his full salary during the time that he is on suspension.

The mayor of Dover earns $100,542.48 annually or $3,867.02 every two weeks, according to Auditor Nicole Stoldt.

On Wednesday, Dover officials were notified that Homrighausen had been suspended from office by a special commission appointed by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor.

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The mayor had been indicted in March by a Tuscarawas County grand jury on several felony counts, including theft in office, having an unlawful interest in a public contract and six counts of filing incomplete, false and fraudulent returns.

The special commission determined that "the alleged conduct underlying Homrighausen's performance of the duties of his office as set forth in the indictment and the documents and materials provided by the chief justice, and as covered by the charges, adversely affect the right and interests of the public."

The commission, made up of three retired judges, issued a preliminary determination that the mayor should be suspended. Homrighausen did not contest that, so the commission's decision became final.

A jury trial in Homrighausen's criminal case is scheduled for Sept. 20 before Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos.

More: Judge to take applications for position of interim mayor of Dover

Tuscarawas County Probate Judge Adam Wilgus has the responsibility of naming an interim mayor to serve until the charges against Homrighausen are resolved.

Wilgus is taking applications for the position through 4 p.m. Tuesday. A committee comprised of Dover residents will review the resume and cover letter of all applicants and make a recommendation of two of the applicants to the judge. Wilgus will interview those two and appoint an interim mayor.

Ohio Revised Code 3.16 requires that both Homrighausen and the interim mayor receive the same rate of pay during the time of the suspension.

"The suspended public official, however, shall retain the title of the holder of that office during the period of the suspension and continue to receive the compensation that the official is entitled to receive for holding that office during the period of the suspension, until the public official pleads guilty to or is found guilty of any felony with which the public official is charged, or until one of the conditions in division (C)(4)(a), (b), or (c) of this section occurs," the code says.

It continues, "An acting officer appointed under division (E)(2) of this section or an interim replacement official appointed under division (E)(3) or (4) of this section shall be certified to the county board of elections and the secretary of state by the county central committee, probate judge of the court of common pleas, or board of county commissioners that made the appointment. The acting officer or interim replacement official so certified shall have all of the rights, powers, and responsibilities of, and shall be entitled to the same rate of pay as, the suspended public official."

The Ohio Revised Code also allows a political subdivision to file a civil action in court to recover from any former public official "the amount of compensation paid to that former public official in accordance with this division from the date of the former public official's suspension to the date the former public official pleads guilty to or is found guilty of any felony with which the former public official was charged."

Council President Shane Gunnoe said Thursday he is going to apply for the position of interim mayor.

"After consultation with members of council, members of city administration, other elected officials in the city of Dover and some thought and conversation with my family, I do intend to submit my application," he said. "I believe there is a very strong consensus of support within city government for my application to become interim mayor.

"I do this because really quite honestly this is a very temporary role. We need somebody who has necessary experience to hit the ground running.

"Dover's got a lot of issues, both legally and then obviously we have employee negotiations, we have important contracts that could potentially be coming up. The concern among many people in city government is we need somebody who can hit the ground running, who knows these issues already and won't take long to begin to take action on these things."

Gunnoe said a backlog of work is piling up in the mayor's office.

"The pile grows bigger every day," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Homrighausen will continue to receive salary during suspension