Here are the three agencies and how they operate:
Ohio Inspector General
Staffing: 15
Annual Budget: $2.2 million
History: Established in 1990
Jurisdiction: 156,000 employees of public colleges and universities as well as agencies under the governor’s control.
Governance: The IG is appointed by the governor to a four-year term
2016 work: Forty-eight cases opened from 397 complaints; 57 cases were closed, resulting in four criminal charges in three cases. Allegations were substantiated in 54 percent of the cases.
Ohio Ethics Commission
Staffing: 20
Annual Budget: $2.2 million
History: Established in 1973
Jurisdiction: Roughly 590,000 public employees, elected officeholders, vendors and appointees in state and local government are covered by the law. Of those, 10,300 are required to file annual financial disclosure statements.
Governance: The governor appoints six members – three from each party – to six-year terms. The commission deliberates on investigations in closed session.
Work in 2016: Advice dished out in 183 staff opinions, 3,247 emails, 2,071 phone calls about moonlighting, nepotism, travel and meals, gifts and other topics. Seventy-four investigation cases were opened while 71 were closed. Most of the investigations dealt with public contract and nepotism. And only 5 percent of investigations focused on state government; the rest centered on cities, counties, schools, townships, universities and vendors.
Joint Legislative Ethics Committee
Staffing: 6
Annual budget: $700,000
History: Established in 1994
Jurisdiction: 1,500 registered lobbyists and 800 lawmakers and legislative staff members.
Work in 2016: JLEC held one meeting, conducted 19 training sessions, issued 24 informal and one formal legal opinion, processed 38,000 reports, and responded to 2,272 calls and emails, records show.
About the Author
