On January 8th, 2004, Susie Hughes, Hocking County BOE member retired an unexpired term, in order to receive public retirement benefits.
According to this newsletter:
http://www.ccao.org/newsletter/cab200402.htm (excerpts below) in order for her to legally be rehired, she needed to have been retired for a period of 60 days, and between fifteen and thirty days before the employment as a reemployed retirant was to begin and after complying with division (A) of this section, held a public meeting on the issue of the person being employed by the public employer.
This was not done. Susie Hughes was rehired on March 8th without the authority of the legislative body (which in this case, would be the Hocking County Democrat Central Committee).
The DINO's are claiming Susie had retired an unexpired term and had been elected prior to her retirement for a new 4 year term. The Democrat Central Committee is of the belief Susie had not fulfilled the requirements and is not a legal board member.
If she is not a legal board member, the elections, recount, certifications of elections, the Sherole Eaton firing, the vote for Diebold, may not have been legal.
In addition, if she is not a legal member, then she illegally handled ballots, tabulated election and recount results, and illegally certified the elections.
There is some speculation the other DINO on the Hocking Board may have had a similar occurrence.
Anyone want to issue an opinion on this?
Ohio Revised Code 145.381 and Ohio Administrative Code (OAC 145-1-79) provide the following:
A board, commission, or legislative authority that proposes to continue the employment as a reemployed retirant or rehire as a reemployed retirant in the same position, a person who is or most recently has been employed by a public employer in a position that is customarily filled by a vote of the members of a board or commission or by the legislative authority of a county, municipal corporation, or township, shall certify on a form provided by the retirement system that both of the following have occurred:
A. Not less than sixty days before the employment as a reemployed retirant was to begin, gave public notice that the person is or will be retired and is seeking employment with the public employer;
B. Between fifteen and thirty days before the employment as a reemployed retirant was to begin and after complying with division (A) of this section, held a public meeting on the issue of the person being employed by the public employer.
Key points include:
The provision is applicable to individuals who retire and are re-hired to the same position.
The provision is applicable to hiring actions that are taken by a vote of the members of a board or commission or by the legislative authority of a county, municipality or township. Hence, hiring that is conducted by a board of county commissioners would be applicable, but hiring done by a county auditor, prosecutor, recorder, etc. is not.
If a board of county commissioners has authorized its county administrator to handle personnel matters, does the public notice and hearing requirement apply? Good question. Counties should consult their county prosecutor for legal guidance. One of the first issues to consider is the type of authority that has been granted to an administrator. If the commissioners' resolution requires hiring actions to come back to the board, the public notice and hearing requirement would clearly apply. If the commissioners' resolution grants independent authority to the administrator, the law is open to interpretation. Secondly, is the county administrator filling "a position that is customarily filled by a vote of the members" of the board of county commissioners? Or, is it customary for a county administrator to fill positions without a vote of the board when so empowered by a resolution of the board of county commissioners? What is "customary"? Again, counties should consult their county prosecutor for legal guidance.
Employers subject to the provision must give public notice not less than 60 days before the employment of a re-employed retirant is to begin. The public notice shall include the time, date, and location at which a public meeting on this matter is to take place.
Employers who are subject to this provision must conduct a public meeting on the matter.
Once the public notice and hearing have been conducted and the employer still intends to hire the retirant, the employer must complete a form provided by the retirement system (OPERS) certifying the above process has been completed. Attached to this advisory bulletin is a copy of the form from OPERS.
As a result of this new requirement, can a board of county commissioners simply adopt a policy stating that it will not re-hire any retiree to the same position? CCAO would not recommend counties do this without seeking legal advice from your county prosecutor, as you might expose the county to age discrimination liability.
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