MOUNT VERNON — Knox County Sheriff David Barber may have not only violated trust fund laws, he also may have violated campaign finance laws, according to Kevin Kidder, media relations coordinator for the Secretary of State’s office.
Barber wrote two checks in 2004 out of the Knox County Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Trust Fund to help finance his campaign, which were designated as a loan in his postelection campaign finance report. The Ohio Revised Code (R.C. 3517.10) stipulates that “all monetary contributions received must be deposited into [the campaign] account.” By writing checks to pay the bills directly instead of to his campaign fund, Barber may have violated the ORC.
The job of maintaining accurate financial records for any political candidate falls on the shoulders of the campaign’s treasurer. Mark Leonard, who has served as Barber’s treasurer since he first ran for Knox County sheriff in 1996, said the job is pretty basic.
“You document income and expenses,” Leonard said.
As the committee’s treasurer, Leonard said he was the only one permitted to write checks for Barber’s re-election campaign.
“All you had was one checkbook,” Leonard said. “I was the only one authorized to sign.”
On Jan. 4, 2000, according to the finance report filed on April 5, 2000, David Barber loaned the David Barber for Sheriff Committee $1,262.23 to kick start his re-election. Leonard said it is not unusual for candidates to loan their campaigns money to get the process started. In the 2000 election, Barber did not have the funds to pay back his initial loan; the debt therefore carried over to his 2004 campaign.
“That amount carried forward [to the 2004 election] because it was never repaid,” Leonard said. “There were no funds to repay the loan.”
During the 2004 election campaign, according to the finance report filed on Dec. 9, 2004, Barber loaned his campaign an additional $1,041.67. However, the money came from a funding source related to his employment as the Knox County Sheriff, not from a personal account.
“In 2004, he took out a loan from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund. He borrowed $1,041.67. He paid directly from those funds for three bills,” Leonard said. “He did repay the loan.”
According to Leonard and LETF documents, the bills that were paid from this account included two bills to Clear Channel, which owned WMVO/93.7 at the time, and a bill to Donahue Advertising, a company in Logan that produced Barber’s campaign signs. Invoices for all three bills were included in the post-general election finance report filed with the Knox County Board of Elections on Dec. 9, 2004.
Leonard said he was aware the money came from the trust fund, but didn’t realize there were any potential problems with the transactions.
“I didn’t know what the Law Enforcement Trust Fund was,” he said.
According to the ORC, funds from the LETF can only be used for purposes related to law enforcement.
According to the finance report filed following the 2004 election, on Nov. 24, 2004, Leonard wrote Barber a check from the campaign fund for $2,076.10, to “pay toward loan.”
Leonard said that check was to cover the loan from the trust fund, as well as a partial payment for the loan carried over from 2000. In addition, Barber “forgave” $227.80 that was still owed him from his campaign funds.
On that same day, Barber deposited $1,041.67 into the LETF as reimbursement for Donahue Advertising and Clear Channel — Mount Vernon, according to LETF statements.
Candidates who appear on the ballot of a general election have 38 days after the election to file a post-election report. According to the Office of the Ohio Secretary of State, “County boards of election examine the reports of all village, township, city and county candidates, county political parties, county political action committees, county political contributing entities and county ballot-issue committees.”
“They file any contributions they receive, any expenses that they have,” said Belinda Lanning, deputy director of the Knox County Board of Elections.
After the report is filed with the KCBOE, it is reviewed. In the case of Barber’s 2004 post-general election report, Rita Yarman, KCBOE director, reviewed the report. Yarman was unavailable to comment about her interpretation of the loan from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund.
“We make sure [campaign finance reports] balance, we make sure they have receipts, they have to have receipts for everything. They have to list any contributors they have,” Lanning said.
“I don’t know how that works,” Lanning said of Barber’s LETF. “But we were told they could use that money at their discretion. But I’m not sure how that plays into your campaign finance.”
If during a report examination, something is missing or figures are not added correctly, Lanning said she will contact the campaign’s treasurer.
“Everyone’s pretty good. Usually it’s the lack of a receipt or something like that,” she said. “I’ve never found anything that made me question that they were [misleading], it was just something they missed not anything they were trying to not report.”
Depending on the discrepancy, Lanning may ask the treasurer to file an amended report, or a letter would be sent. If a bigger issue is discovered, the report is forwarded for more thorough scrutiny.
“If you find something, then we have the ethics commission that we have to turn them over to if we think there was something intentionally done wrong, which is usually not filing. That was an over sight,” Lanning said.
Lanning said the fact that money was loaned from the LETF should have raised a red flag, but it is the understanding of her office that Barber can use the money at his discretion.
“But we’re not sure how that fits in with campaign finances,” she said.
