The special commission appointed to determine whether or not Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly should be suspended from office has issued their decision.
The special commission, comprised of retired judges John F. Bender, Neal B. Bronson and Jennifer L. Sargus, has decided to suspend Kelly after the sheriff dropped his appeal Tuesday.
“Patrick Kelly’s continued administration of, or conduct in the performance of the duties of, the Office of Sheriff of Athens County, Ohio, pending disposition of the criminal charges against him, would adversely affect the functioning of that office,” according to the preliminary decision.
Though the commission made their preliminary decision Mar. 4, it was not available to the public because all of the commission's proceedings are secret until they are final, according to Ohio Revised Code.
"Therefore, in accordance with R.C. 3.16(C)(2) and the preliminary determination made by the Commission, Patrick Kelly is hereby suspended from the Office of Sheriff of Athens County, Ohio," according to the decision.
Kelly announced that he was dropping his appeal earlier this week, and the Athens County Commissioners have already met to appoint a replacement.
The commissioners chose Retired Lt. Rodney Smith, of the Sheriff's department, to serve as interim sheriff at a special meeting Thursday morning.
The Athens County Democratic Party will be meeting April 8, where they will have the opportunity to either keep Smith as interim sheriff, or to select their own interim sheriff.
Those looking to contact Pat Kelly can do so by emailing him at pkelly@nelsonvilletv.com, not his sheriff's address, sheriffkelly@athenssheriff.com. Kelly's sheriff's account has been disabled as of 10 p.m. Thursday, according to one of Kelly's Facebook posts.
