Scioto County Commissioners are pushing back against a lawsuit that accuses them of violating Ohio’s Open Meetings Act during negotiations tied to the proposed Google data center in Franklin Furnace.
The lawsuit, filed by a county resident and represented by attorney Kurt Hartman, alleges commissioners improperly conducted public business in executive session while creating a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) connected to the project.
The case has been assigned to Judge Judge Kuhn in Scioto County Common Pleas Court.
Commissioners Say Matter Is Now in Attorneys’ Hands
Commissioner Merit Smith said because the matter is active litigation, the board will not comment extensively.
“Typically on the lawsuit itself, I would say we’re not going to talk a whole lot about the lawsuit itself because it’s an ongoing lawsuit,” Smith said. “It says we did something wrong in executive session when we decided to make a CRA area up in Franklin Furnace. At this point, we’ve turned it over to our attorneys.”
Smith emphasized that the board attempts to follow legal guidance.
“If we haven’t followed the law, you tell us we haven’t followed it and we’ll fix what we can,” he said. “We’re not perfect. We could mess up. If we did, that’s fine and we’ll correct it.”
Commissioner Will Mault declined to comment.
Commissioner Scottie Powell said he was not surprised by the lawsuit.
“So often, what we find is that if I’m against a project, if I can’t attack the project, I attack the process,” Powell said.
Powell added that if a court determines the board violated the law, the CRA could be vacated and the county may incur legal fees.
“At the end of the day, if we did something wrong the CRA will be vacated and it will cost the county some money in legal fees,” Powell said. “And then we have the opportunity to fix it anyway.”
Plaintiff: Lawsuit About Transparency
Attorney Kurt Hartman said the lawsuit centers on government accountability.
“The case is really trying to advance the interests of openness and transparency in government and holding public officials accountable when they conduct the people’s business behind closed doors,” Hartman said.
Hartman argues that commissioners entered executive sessions that were not compliant with state law and negotiated key elements of the CRA outside public view.
“It’s simply a question of the Open Meetings Act,” he said.
The lawsuit now moves through the court system, where a judge will ultimately decide whether commissioners complied with Ohio law.