opinion

Senator: Shame on Joe Deters for spending $16K on briefcases

Under Ohio law, the money confiscated as a result of criminal activity is held in the Law Enforcement Trust Fund (LETF). An appropriate and responsible use of these funds would be supporting law enforcement, helping counteract crime and combating drug addiction.

However, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, who is the designated custodian of the county’s fund, used it to pay for his own personal expenses. Yearly reports show Deters spent $15,000 on briefcases for his lawyers, $61,000 for parking and $14,600 for furniture between January 2015 and September 2017. During the same period, while the state was facing a devastating drug epidemic, he gave only $10,000 to the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition Task Force, which works to investigate and prosecute drug dealers.

Residents of Hamilton County should be outraged. Just a fraction of the amount Deters spent on gratuitous expenses would go a long way in supporting law enforcement and other organizations fighting the heroin crisis.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, more than 4,000 people died from unintentional drug overdoses in Ohio in 2016, a 33 percent increase from the previous year. Hamilton County itself accounts for a large number of these fatalities, with 318 overdose deaths in 2016, the third-highest number in the state.

In November, I attended a meeting of the Heroin Task Force and listened to parents, support groups and non-profit organizations. They all voiced one need: more financial support. Police and fire departments, health professionals, our county sheriff and community organizations desperately need more resources to provide treatment, expand their quick-response teams and address jail overcrowding.

As a state legislator, it is my responsibility to identify all potential sources of financial support that could help fight the heroin epidemic. One such reservoir could be the $1.7 million LETF. However, the law currently allows these funds to be used as the custodian “determines to be appropriate,” which lets Deters spend money without much oversight. This freedom has negatively affected our community, as funds are diverted away from programs – like the Heroin Task Force – that desperately need them. Clearly, Ohio’s law governing forfeiture funds is outdated.

Our community deserves greater accountability over their officials and given the alarming rate of overdose deaths in Hamilton County, the public should demand more from its elected officials and legislators. I strongly urge my colleagues in the General Assembly to support reforming Ohio’s law governing the control and expenditure of forfeiture funds and call for Deters to stop spending our scarce resources on frivolous things like briefcases and furniture.

State Senator Cecil Thomas represents Ohio’s 9th Senate district, which includes parts of Cincinnati, St. Bernard, Elmwood Place, Norwood, Golf Manor, Hollydale, Columbia Township, Silverton and Springfield Township.