DeWine won’t help county with SEOEMS debt

Published 9:32 am Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Attorney General says it is not appropriate to get involved

Ohio’s Attorney General has turned down a request by the county commissioners to help in the collection of a debt they say is owed to the county by the now-defunct Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service.

In December the commissioners sought assistance to get the more than $300,000 they believe a 2011 audit showed that Lawrence County was owed from the tri-county EMS. SEOEMS was dissolved at the end of 2010 when the other two participating counties — Jackson and Athens — pulled out.

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The commission went to the county prosecutor’s office, which asked state Attorney General Mike DeWine to intervene. In a letter to DeWine, assistant prosecutor Mack Anderson wrote,” … rather than enforcing the audit we wonder if your office could pursue a collection against SEOEMS pursuant to (SEOEMS) contracts and on behalf of the Lawrence County Commissioners.”

With that letter were sent SEOEMS contracts.

However in a Jan. 11 letter to County Prosecutor J.B. Collier, DeWine said he did not find it appropriate to intercede.

“The service agreements you forwarded indicate the district was required to reconcile accounts and reimburse the county for funds paid in excess of expenditures,” the letter states. “However I do not find it appropriate for my office to commence an action on this matter. This is not a case that involves collection of a debt on behalf of a state agency or client,” DeWine’s letter stated. “As you know, this matter may ultimately involve Athens or Jackson counties, who also funded the district. The local debt initiative I have undertaken as a result of recent changes to R.C. 131.02 does not contemplate pursuing one or more local governments on behalf of another.”

The state attorney general’s office has a debt collection program where it can enter into a memo of understanding to collect local debts.

DeWine also said that if Collier found representing the county a conflict, the commissioners could hire an outside attorney with the approval of the court of common pleas.

“It is good news/bad news,” Commission President Les Boggs said. “The good news is the attorney general recognized there are contractual obligations between the county that indicate each county must be reimbursed what it is (owed). We are due $301,396. The bad news is they don’t collect for one government agency from another. We believe they are basically saying it needs to be settled as a civil suit in a private court of law. At this point we will speak to our prosecutor and consider our options.”