The Scioto County Land Bank is getting a lot of attention because people have been asking hard questions about how property sales were handled. Recent local reporting says sales slowed down after complaints about how bids were collected and tracked. Commissioner Scottie Powell said the board did not feel comfortable with the way the process had been handled.
The land bank is the Scioto County Land Reutilization Corporation. It was created in 2016 to take control of vacant, abandoned, and tax-foreclosed property and try to put it back to use. Scioto County’s 2024 audit says the land bank is run by a five-member board made up of the county treasurer, two county commissioners, one Portsmouth representative, and one township representative. The same audit shows the land bank had $1,475,348 in assets held for resale at the end of 2024.
The current scrutiny is mostly about trust. Powell said the board has not sold any property since the current members took over because they were not comfortable with the old system. He said people used to “write something on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope.” Officials now say they are trying to replace that with clearer notices, a formal bidding process, better tracking, and standard rules.
Recent public reporting says the board now includes Scottie Powell, Merit Smith, Joey Sandlin, Sam Sutherland, and Dennis DeCamp. The county’s official site confirms Powell, Steven W. Mault, and Merit Smith are the current commissioners, and Portsmouth’s official site lists Sam Sutherland as city manager.
Even with the sales pause, the land bank is still tied to active projects. A state demolition award list from April 2026 shows the Scioto County Land Reutilization Corporation received a $230,000 award, with $196,100 tied to eight Portsmouth properties for demolition and site work. That means the land bank is still moving on blight cleanup, even while its sales process is under review.
The short answer is this: the Scioto Land Bank is under scrutiny because it controls public property, public money, and major decisions about who gets land — and officials now admit the old sales process was not good enough. That is why sales were paused, why the board says it is rebuilding the system, and why people are watching closely right now.
