The Supreme Court of Ohio will not halt the November general election for Butler County auditor and will not restore the former auditor to office.

In a 6-1 decision, the Supreme Court today rejected a request from Roger Reynolds to allow him to fulfill the remainder of the Butler County auditor term, which began in March 2023 and runs through March 2027. Reynolds had been the auditor since 2008, and won reelection to a four-year term in November 2022. However, he was unable to take office in March 2023 because he was convicted of a felony and barred from holding public office.

When Reynolds was ruled ineligible to hold office, Nancy Nix was appointed auditor. The vacancy caused by Reynolds requires a special election in November to fill the remaining three years of the auditor’s office term. Nix is on the ballot seeking election to the office she holds. Reynolds’ conviction was overturned by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals in May 2024.

In a per curiam opinion, the Court ruled county officials followed state law when appointing Nix to the office and Reynolds is not entitled to be placed back in the office. The Court said, though, that the reversal of Reynolds’ conviction means he is eligible to run for and hold public office in the future.

Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy and Justices Patrick F. Fischer, R. Patrick DeWine, Melody Stewart, Jennifer Brunner, and Joseph T. Deters joined the majority opinion.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote it was questionable whether the Ohio attorney general should have pursued a charge of unlawful interest in a public contract against Reynolds. Since the charge has been overturned, Reynolds should be allowed to assume the office he won, he stated.

“Because Reynolds is competent to hold office and because he was democratically elected by the citizens of Butler County to hold the office of Butler County auditor through March 2027, I would conclude that continued service by the appointed auditor, respondent, Nancy Nix, would contravene the will of Butler County’s voters and that reinstating Reynolds to his elected position would safeguard their interests,” he wrote.

Conviction Led to Auditor Appointment
Terms for county auditor begin and end in March. Reynolds was reelected in November 2022 to a term beginning March 2023 and ending March 2027.

In December 2022, after his reelection, Reynolds was found guilty in Butler County Common Pleas Court of having an unlawful interest in a public contract, a fourth-degree felony. Under R.C. 2961.01(A)(1), Reynolds was not allowed to hold an “office of honor, trust, or profit,” which included county auditor.

Reynolds appealed his conviction. However, he had to vacate the office for the remainder of his current term and could not take office in March 2023. As required by R.C. 305.02, the Butler County Republican Party Central Committee appointed Nix to fill the vacancy left by Reynolds. The party also appointed Nix to serve the remainder of the March 2019 term. Because of the vacancy, voters will decide in November who will serve the remainder of the term.

Exoneration Prompts Effort to Return to Office
In May 2024, the Twelfth District ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict Reynolds, and the trial court was ordered to acquit him. The attorney general’s office appealed the decision, but in August 2024, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case letting the acquittal stand. The trial court then officially acquitted Reynolds.

Reynolds asked Nix to step down and allow him to serve the remainder of the county auditor’s term. When she declined, he filed a writ of quo warranto with the Supreme Court, stating because his conviction had been overturned, he was entitled to hold the office he won election to.

A writ of quo warranto is used to contest a person’s right to hold public office. To prevail, Reynolds must establish that Nix is unlawfully holding the auditor’s office, and he is entitled to be auditor, the opinion stated.

Reynolds maintained the provisions of R.C. 2961.01(A)(1) allow him to be returned to office because his guilty verdict was reversed.

Supreme Court Analyzed Election Laws
The Court agreed with Reynolds that he is now competent to hold office.

“But it does not follow that he is entitled to serve in a specific office to which he was elected but which he was never sworn in to,” the opinion stated.

The Court noted it has never decided a case where a person elected to, but not yet in, the office has sought to be instated to the post, the opinion stated.

The Court explained R.C. 2961.01(A)(1), the law barring him from office, must be read in conjunction with R.C. 305.02, the law guiding the filling of county office vacancies. The Court noted R.C. 305.02 has since been amended, but the version in effect in March 2023 outlined the process by which the central committee of the ousted official’s party selects a replacement.

Reynolds was unable to take office in March 2023 because his conviction was in effect and his appeal had not been decided, the Court stated. Once a vacancy is filled, the law states the appointee “shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified,” the opinion noted.

“No portion of R.C. 305.02 provides that the vacancy, once it occurs and has been filled by a lawful appointee, can be reversed or otherwise nullified,” the opinion stated.

No part of R.C. 2961.01 states a person found guilty of a felony, which is then reversed, is entitled to be reinstated to the public office the person held when the verdict was rendered, the opinion noted.

“Reynolds is now competent to hold office, but he is not entitled to serve as the Butler County auditor for the remainder of the March 2023 term,” the Court concluded.

2024-1244. State ex rel. Reynolds v. Nix, Slip Opinion No. 2024-Ohio-4669.

Please note: Opinion summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information for the general public and news media. Opinion summaries are not prepared for every opinion, but only for noteworthy cases. Opinion summaries are not to be considered as official headnotes or syllabi of court opinions. The full text of this and other court opinions are available online.