Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds indicted on bribery, corruption-related charges

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) – Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds is accused in an indictment released Wednesday morning of bribery and corruption-related charges, court records show.

Reynolds, 52, of Liberty Township is facing three felonies and two misdemeanors for allegedly using his position for personal gain.

The charges are:

• One count of bribery
• Two counts of unlawful interest in a public contract
• One count of unlawful use of authority
• One count of conflict of interest

The allegations against Reynolds appear to be related to future development on Hamilton Mason Road between Cincinnati Dayton and Maud Hughes roads and his alleged efforts to control it.

Reynolds and his parents have ties to several acres of land along that stretch of Hamilton Mason Road, which straddles both Liberty and West Chester townships.

The Butler County Sheriff’s Office began investigating in late August after FOX19 NOW reported Reynolds was seeking – at times using his county elected office email account – more than $1 million in public money for road improvements on Hamilton Mason Road as he facilitated the sale of his parents’ property into a $20 million senior residential complex.

We also reported an 87-year-old landowner on Hamilton Mason Road who has lived next door to Reynolds’ parents for decades, Gerald Parks; his daughter and attorney claimed in an interview with us that Reynolds tried to buy some of his property for well below fair market value or said it would be landlocked.

At the time, Parks’ wife was terminally ill with cancer.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office joined the case in mid-September, and the Ohio Ethics Commission also got involved.

On Sept. 30, Parks, his daughter and their family trust sued Reynold and others, alleging bribery, extortion and other corruption-related accusations.

Parks claims in court records he’s lost three contracts due to Reynolds and others’ “tortious interference with him and his business dealings,” resulting in a loss of at least $1.3 million.

Reynolds, the auditor since 2008, could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday morning.

FOX19 NOW also requested comments from his criminal and civil attorneys.

We will continue to update this breaking story throughout the day.

A visiting judge overseeing the case recently set the trial date for June 2023.

As the elected auditor, Reynolds is the county’s chief financial officer.

He also is the chief property appraiser of more than 160,000 parcels and administers the Homestead Program for the elderly and disabled and the Current Agriculture Use Valuation program for farmers.

He leads his staff in calculating tax rates and tax bills, collects personal property and estate taxes, disburses all tax revenue, is the inspector of weights and measures for the Ohio Department of Agriculture and issues cigarette, vendor and dog licenses.

The county auditor keeps the tax maps and estimates revenues to be received upon which the County Commissioners then base their annual budget.

Reynolds was appointed Butler County’s auditor on April 15, 2008.

At that time, he was serving as Liberty Township’s fiscal officer.

Reynolds was appointed when the former county auditor, Kay Rogers, resigned after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud and filing a false income tax return. Rogers was sentenced to two years in prison and was released from prison in 2013.

It was related to a fiber optic deal that became one of the biggest political scandals in Butler County history, resulting also in the resignation of then-Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox.

He was sent to prison for four years for wire fraud and filing a false tax return and was released in 2015.

Reynolds went on to be elected to complete the full term as the county auditor on Nov. 4, 2008.

He was re-elected to full, 4-year terms of office on Nov. 2, 2010, Nov. 4, 2014, and most recently on Nov. 6, 2018, according to the Butler County Board of Elections.

“Roger pledged to restore public trust and confidence in the Auditor’s Office and has worked tirelessly on that goal,” reads his page on a county website.

“In 2013, 2015 and 2018, (then) Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost presented Roger and his office with the Auditor of State Award With Distinction for excellence in financial reporting. These awards are a clear indication of improvement.”

Reynolds has often said he set aggressive goals to reduce spending, reform government and return tax dollars and those goals aren’t changing.

He is up for re-election this year and, so far, his legal troubles have not sidetracked him.

Reynolds is running for election in the May 3 Republican primary against fellow Republican and West Chester Township Fiscal officer Bruce Jones (no relation to Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones).

Reynolds pulled petitions to run back in November – well after the investigation was publicly announced – and filed them less than a month ago, on Jan.14, according to the Butler County Board of Elections.

Butler County treasurer pulls petitions to run for auditor as ‘backup’ if current one sidelined by criminal probe

West Chester’s fiscal officer to challenge Butler County Auditor

The executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, Paul Nick, has repeatedly declined to comment as a matter of policy, not as a confirmation or denial whether they are investigating.

Generally, under the conflict of interest statute, the use of authority could include using your office to try and influence other officeholders, Ohio law shows.

There are various penalties for violating ethics laws.

Use of authority penalty is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail.

The Ohio Ethics Commission website also states:

“Remember, public servants may NOT take any action in matters that definitely and directly affect themselves, their family members, or their business associates.”

And:

“When someone in public service is confronted with a conflict of interest, he or she must completely abstain from making decisions about or influencing how the matter is resolved.”

Last year, when FOX19 NOW asked Reynolds the sheriff’s office launching an investigation: “My assistance with my parents’ land sale did not involve the auditor’s office or any official action as county auditor. I will fully cooperate and I look forward to resolving this issue.”

When FOX19 NOW first interviewed Reynolds on Aug. 24 about his parents’ land development deal and seeking public money for road improvements, he responded: “I am just helping my dad trying to start downsizing his assets as they get older.”

He said he thought the senior living community would be a great addition to the community. He said the property is not his and he had no financial benefit: “It’s 100% my dad’s land.”

He has said he didn’t see anything wrong with seeking public money for the road improvements, even when we pointed out he used his elected office email account in emails to county officials at times, in addition to a personal email account.

“Just like I told you on Friday, “Reynolds told us back on Monday, Aug. 27 when we called him back for comment because the sheriff’s office had launched an investigation, “it was nothing that took place within my office related to this project and because of that, as of private citizen, I am allowed to make requests of other offices. So nothing was wrong with what I did.”

We asked Reynolds at that time if he sought an advisory opinion with the Ohio Ethics Commission or Butler County Prosecutor’s Office.

He responded:

“As long as I didn’t do anything within my own office there isn’t an issue with me working as a private citizen and making requests of other offices. That’s what I did. Non-story.”

The Ohio Ethics Commission confirmed back in September they never received a request from Reynolds for an advisory opinion.

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