Logan said the managers are needed to oversee the upcoming deer gun season and assist in the transition to a new governor. They had been on paid leave since April 8 and the state has spent more than $250,000 paying the five while on leave, ODNR said. Critics say the charges are an overreaction.
In November 2006, a South Carolina wildlife officer got a hunting license during a visit, using the home address of Allan Wright, a state wildlife officer in Brown County. He paid $19 for a license that would have cost another out-of-stater $125. Charges against Wright, who assisted with the license, have been dropped and he’s returned to duty.
Wildlife Division officials in 2008, after an internal probe, verbally reprimanded Wright. That wasn’t sufficient punishment, a report by the Ohio Inspector General said. Brown County prosecutor Jessica Little followed up by charging felony obstruction of justice and complicity stemming from not pursuing a criminal investigation.
It’s debatable whether state policy — written or unwritten — was violated at all. The state didn’t clearly forbid cut-rate hunting licenses to out-of-staters until 2008, the I.G.’s report said. That year, Ohio wildlife personnel were prohibited from accepting a cut-rate license from other states, too.
Logan said that the case has bogged down as Brown County Judge Scott Gusweiler ruled evidence presented so far, Inspector General testimony, cannot be admitted. But Little, who couldn’t be reached Friday, has filed an appeal in the case, which has put it on hold, Logan said.
By returning the five to their jobs, Logan said, “I have to balance respect for the court and common sense as a public manager. They have returned to work. We’re at a real critical point.”
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