(a) in any capacity, represents or shares commissions with a surety company or other guarantor in the drafting of a bond or contract subject to the approval of such public officer or employee; or Heath hired Brickner`s Inc. on February 27, 2012, and Brickner`s president was Heath`s wife, Val. The contract was signed by the husband on behalf of the school and by the wife on behalf of the company. In April 2014, the state comptroller ordered Heath and his wife to repay $53,239 to the Tomorrow Center after discovering that he had signed an illegal contract with the company while employed by the Mount Gilead School District, which oversees the Tomorrow Center. That`s the amount the Tomorrow Center paid Brickner for 18 months. Heath, 48, is charged with illegal interest in a public contract, a fourth-degree felony. Johnstown-Monroe High School Principal Michael Heath was indicted by a Morrow County grand jury for illegally approving a contract for his wife several years ago while he was principal of Edison`s Tomorrow Center Community School. “This is a blatant disregard for the law,” state auditor Dave Yost said in a press release at the time. “The only benefit you or your family should get from your public service is a paycheck and a sense of honor.” (1) the prior written consent of the head of the Department of State or political subdivision involved in the transaction is obtained and filed as a public record in the Office of the Secretary of State; and any person who commits an illegal interest in public contracts the value of which is received from him of fifty dollars ($50.00) or less is guilty of an offence. Nothing in this article shall prevent a public official or public official from receiving regular remuneration for services rendered to the State or its political subdivisions in connection with the above-mentioned activity. An unlawful interest in a public procurement consists of: B. any seller or his agents, or a buyer or his representatives, who offers to pay or pay, directly or indirectly, anything of value to a public official or public official in connection with the sale or purchase of securities or merchandise by the State or any of its political subdivisions, unless the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection A of this Section are met. Every person who commits an illegal interest in public contracts the value of which is greater than fifty dollars ($50.00) is guilty of a fourth-degree felony.
Any public official or public official convicted of a crime is forever excluded from employment by the State or any of its political subdivisions. The audit also found that the school`s first payment to Brickner`s was made in January 2012, one month before the board awarded the contract. In addition, no documentation showed that a tendering procedure had taken place, according to the audit. One. any public official or public official who receives, directly or indirectly, from a seller or his agents, or from a buyer or his agents, in connection with the sale or purchase by the State or any of its political subdivisions of securities, goods, leases, land or anything of value, unless: Any person who violates the provisions of subsection B of this section; If such a violation constitutes the basis for the prosecution and conviction of a public official or public official, relations with the State or its political subdivisions shall be excluded for a period of five years from the date of the violation. (2) Following the transaction, the buyer or seller shall file a declaration as a public record with the office of the Secretary of State giving something of value to a public official or public official, and the declaration shall include the date of the provision of the services, the amount of remuneration for the services rendered, and the nature of the services rendered; He pleaded not guilty in Morrow County Common Pleas Court. Superintendent Dale Dickson said he could not comment on the matter. Other county officials did not respond to requests for comment at press time.
Heath was granted a court-appointed lawyer on Friday, February 20, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for April. Heath declined to comment on his lawyer`s advice, saying only that his side of the story “is not shown at this time.” According to a government audit, the Tomorrow Center`s board of directors approved the tender for speech-language pathology services in May 2011. Mount Gilead`s treasurer discovered the breach in the spring of 2013, according to a press release from Mount Gilead Superintendent Jeff Thompson last spring. Columbus Dispatch reporter Eric Lyttle contributed to this report. Johnstown-Monroe hired Heath in August 2013 with a salary of $75,000 plus benefits. “It`s a personnel issue that I can`t comment on,” he told ThisWeek on Feb. 27.
