455 N.E.2d 510 | Ohio Ct. App. | 1982
The single question in this appeal is whether a person convicted of theft in office in violation of R.C.
Defendant-appellee, Robert A. Harris, pleaded guilty to theft in office of $122, and on January 8, 1976, he was placed on probation for two years under a suspended sentence. He was duly discharged from probation and restored to his rights of citizenship at the end of the two-year period. Three years later, he applied under R.C.
On oral representation made in open court, the trial court stated that the defendant was thirty years old with "good potential," to whom many avenues of productive employment would be arbitrarily closed if the conviction remained on the public record. The court found that the application met the four requirements of R.C.
The state appealed seeking reversal.4 We find merit in the state's single assignment of error. Reading R.C.
We derive this conclusion from the clear and unequivocal disqualification of a public servant convicted of theft in office from further public employment. It is a perpetual disqualification. This penalty is visited on the heads of those who violate the public trust, as a matter of policy. R.C.
The judgment ordering the sealing of defendant's conviction of theft in office is reversed and held for naught.
Judgment reversed.
SHANNON, P.J., and KEEFE, J., concur.
"(A) No public official or party official shall commit any theft offense, when either of the following applies:
"(1) The offender uses his office, or permits, or assents to its use, in aid of committing the offense;
"(2) The property or service involved is owned by this or any other state or the United States, a municipality, or any political subdivision, department, or agency of any of them, or by a political party, or is part of a political campaign fund.
"(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of theft in office, a felony of the third degree.
"(C) A public servant or party official who is convicted of theft in office is forever disqualified from holding any public office, employment, or position of trust in this state."
"(A) A first offender may apply to the sentencing court if convicted in the state, or to a court of common pleas if convicted in another state or in a federal court, for the sealing of the record of his conviction, at the expiration of three yearsafter his final discharge if convicted of a felony, or at the expiration of one year after his final discharge if convicted of a misdemeanor.
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"(C) If the court finds that the applicant is a first offender, that there is no criminal proceeding against him, that his rehabilitation has been attained to the satisfaction of the court, and that the sealing of the record of his conviction isconsistent with the public interest, the court shall order all official records pertaining to the case sealed and, except as provided in division (F) of this section, all index references to the case deleted. The proceedings in the case shall be deemed not to have occurred and the conviction of the person who is the subject of the proceedings shall be sealed, except that upon conviction of a subsequent offense, the sealed record of prior conviction may be considered by the court in determining the sentence or other appropriate disposition, including the relief provided for in sections
While the effective action is a sealing of records, the common reference is to expungement.
"Now comes the Applicant, Robert A. Harris, by and through counsel, and requests this court to release the record of conviction in the above numbered case to any department, agency, or other instrumentality of the government of the State of Ohio, or any political subdivision thereof, where such department, agency or instrumentality requests such information in regard to an application for employment by Robert A. Harris for any public office, employment, or position of trust in this state, whenever said request is made."
It was designed to comply with R.C.
"(D) Inspection of the sealed records included in the order may be made only by the following persons or for the following purposes:
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"(2) Upon application by the person who is the subject of the records, by the persons named in his application."
We neither reach nor decide the question whether the "request" contemplated by the statute may be a blanket release given in advance of the sealing, thus substantially changing the conditions governing expungement as set forth in the pertinent statutes, R.C.