Questions arise about new Kirkersville chief's past, and no one is talking.

Bethany Bruner | Newark Advocate

KIRKERSVILLE - When Kirkersville Mayor Terry Ashcraft introduced James D. Hughes Jr. as the next chief of police in the village, he said he had a "good background check."

But a search by The Advocate revealed Hughes has a history of being on the wrong side of the law and multiple issues while employed at other law enforcement agencies.

Hughes, who has worked at the Valleyview Police Department, Fairfield County Sheriff's Office, Brice Police Department and the Ohio Health Police Department as a police officer, was hired as the Chief of Police in Kirkersville Tuesday.

Previously: Kirkersville Police Chief resigns unexpectedly, cites Mayor's behavior

A check of Hughes' personnel records from the departments where he has worked show he has been the subject of multiple investigations and one former supervisor said he would "never be accepted or respected as a leader."

According to Hughes' personnel file from the 14 months he worked at the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office in 2012 and 2013, Hughes was the subject of at least three internal investigations. He resigned about six months after he was hired in October 2012, only to be re-hired in November 2012 as an employee in the jail.

In those internal investigations, Hughes was found to have engaged in a relationship with a female inmate after she was released from the Fairfield County Jail, although Hughes and the female both denied any sexual conduct took place.

In December 2012, Hughes' supervisor at the time did a one-month performance evaluation after Hughes was rehired. The evaluation references two investigations Hughes had been involved with following his rehiring.

The supervisor wrote Hughes needed to make improvements in his decision making and said his choices made him a poor leadership candidate.

"I believe that Deputy Hughes needs to think before he acts," the supervisor wrote. "Deputy Hughes is known to make bad decisions on and off duty."

Six months after that review, in June 2013, Hughes was charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated for an incident that occurred at a fast food restaurant in Whitehall.

According to a police report from the incident, Whitehall Police were called to the restaurant around 11:30 a.m. on June 1, 2013.

The reporting officer said an employee told them a man in the drive-thru was becoming upset because the drive-thru employee was speaking too fast.

The employee had told the driver to pull to another window and the driver, later identified as Hughes, "continued to be belligerent," according to the report.

Hughes told the employee to "get a real job and go back to the grill and flip burgers."

When the employee told Hughes he didn't have to take his order if he was being rude, Hughes reportedly responded by saying "You can't disrespect me, I'm a deputy" and showed a badge.

The employee told Hughes to pull out of the drive-thru line, at which point Hughes spat at the employee, called him a "bitch" and drove away, according to the report.

A witness obtained a license plate from the vehicle and police were able to track down Hughes.

When questioned by a Whitehall officer, Hughes said "f--- those ignorant (racial slur)" and said they could not get his order right. Hughes denied flashing his badge, saying he had opened his wallet to get a debit card, but his badge was visible inside his wallet.

Hughes then admitted to spitting on the window, saying "Yes, I was pissed."

Hughes was charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct while intoxicated in Whitehall Mayor's Court, according to records.

Three days after the incident, on June 4, 2013, Hughes wrote a statement for Whitehall Police, saying his girlfriend had been disrespected by an employee at the restaurant, which resulted in him losing his temper.

In a statement to Fairfield County Sheriff's Office investigators, Hughes said he had seen the Whitehall Police report and believed his side of the incident was not properly documented, prompting him to provide them with a written statement.

In that statement, Hughes said he had used the racial slur, but said he had not used the expletive. Hughes said he said "the guy was acting like an ignorant (racial slur)."

"I am not trying to justify my actions I know I made a stupid mistake I should have just drove off," Hughes wrote. "My temper getting the best of me is not a common occurrence."

Hughes resigned from the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office on June 5, 2013.

Hughes ultimately entered a guilty plea to a minor misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and paid a $165 fine.

Less than a month after he resigned from Fairfield County, Hughes was hired as an officer with the Village of Brice, according to the village's records. Hughes remained employed there until October 2015, when he was laid off, according to records provided to The Advocate.

Records from the Ohio Attorney General's Office show Hughes worked for Brice from February 2011 to October 2011, for one week in October 2012 and then again starting July 1, 2013.

A Brice official said Hughes' personnel file had been purged as part of the village's records retention policy, but there had been no disciplinary documents, which would have been kept for a longer period of time.

The Brice official did note Hughes would be eligible for rehire if an opening were to arise.

Valleyview has not yet responded to a request for records regarding Hughes.

Records from the Ohio Attorney General's Office also show Hughes was a commissioned police officer with the Ohio Health Police Department, which works security at hospitals in the Ohio Health network, between Nov. 2, 2015 and March 6 of this year.

The reason for his departure was not immediately known. The Advocate has reached out to Ohio Health but had not heard back by Thursday afternoon.

The Advocate compared records and addresses to determine the Hughes listed in the reports is the same Hughes who was sworn in Tuesday as the Chief of Police in Kirkersville following a two-minute council meeting. Both had the same name with middle initial, birth month and year and previous address.

Ashcraft has not responded to multiple efforts by The Advocate to speak with him regarding Hughes' hiring. His wife told The Advocate Thursday afternoon he was not at home and she did not know when he would return. She did not provide The Advocate with another way to contact him.

Ashcraft told the council Hughes had undergone a background check.

"Background check came back good," Ashcraft said.

Phone numbers listed by the Licking County Board of Election as belonging to members of the village's council were either not listed or were no longer working numbers.

Attempts to reach Hughes have not been successful.

The Advocate has requested Hughes' application with the village of Kirkersville, but has not received a response as of Thursday afternoon.