LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio - An Ohio state representative was arrested Sunday morning and faces drunken driving and weapons charges, reports say.

Ohio Rep. Wes Retherford (R-Hamilton), who represents Ohio House District 51 in Butler County, was arrested about 7:45 a.m. Sunday at a McDonald's in Liberty Township, Butler County jail records show.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office told the Associated Press that deputies made the arrest after responding to a report of a man passed out in his car. A loaded gun was found inside the vehicle.

Liberty Township is about 30 miles north of Cincinnati.

Retherford, who lives in Hamilton, faces charges of OVI and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, the Dayton Daily News reports. He has not yet been formally charged.

Retherford's arrest happened the morning after the Butler County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner, though attendees told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the representative did not seem impaired while he was there.

The Butler County Republican Party released a statement, saying it is "disappointed" to learn of Retherford's arrest, according to the Dayton Daily News.

"While it is wise to be patient and allow the legal process to work itself through, our party is disappointed at the first reports concerning State Representative Wes Retherford's actions this morning," the party's executive chairman Todd Hall said in the statement. "As all of the details regarding last night's incident comes to light, they will be examined and considered accordingly."

Retherford was re-elected in November 2016 for his third term as a state representative, according to his profile on the Ohio House of Representatives website. He defeated his Democratic challenger by more than 30 percentage points, the Enquirer reports.

The representative is a retired, disabled veteran who works on "various issues pertaining to those who have served in the military," according to his profile on the statehouse. He works as a mortician's assistant at a Hamilton funeral home.

If Retherford is charged and convicted on the weapons charge, he would no longer be allowed to serve as a state representative, according to the Enquirer's report.

Phone and email messages left for Retherford by the Associated Press have gone unanswered as of Sunday evening.

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