Butler County Court Sealings
Year Area I Area II Area III
2007 457 32 58
2008 567 41 51
2009 634 51 65
2010 577 39 105
2011 550 54 75
2012 617 48 54
Total 3,402 265 408
The Oxford judge and his new attorney maintain the minor misdemeanor files he sealed were properly kept secret, and he can’t reveal them now unless the Ohio Supreme Court orders him to.
Judge Rob Lyons’ new attorney George Jonson filed a response Thursday denying any wrongdoing in the high court case filed by a local newspaper. Lyons has sealed 3,402 criminal cases since 2007 — exponentially more than the other area courts — and used the wrong state statute to seal some of them.
The issue of sealing records surfaced recently after a local newspaper sued Lyons in the Ohio Supreme Court when he sealed the record of the author of a rape flier displayed at Miami University Oxford. A Miami University student was charged last year after he posted a “How to get away with rape” flier on campus.
There is a second suit now asking to unseal all the records the judge may have erroneously sealed.
Under the law, convicted felons must wait three years before they can apply to have their records sealed. People convicted of misdemeanor crimes must wait a year, and people who have been acquitted, or otherwise had their case tossed, can apply immediately.
Lyons said he has always sealed minor misdemeanor cases immediately, and the practice went on in the Area I Court long before he got there. Jonson said in his opinion state law allows this practice because the statute is “silent” on the issue of minor misdemeanors.
“It’s kind of a words matter thing,” Jonson said. “If the statute is silent, then it doesn’t cover what’s not discussed. So since there is no statute that says you have to wait a certain period of time to seal minor misdemeanors, the judge’s position is that he may immediately do so.”
Lyons told the JournalNews last month he can’t talk about the Supreme Court case, but said there are good reasons for sealing records and new legislation backs him up.
“Somebody who wants a job promotion or is applying for a job, whether they are in college or not, has a very valid reason for having their record sealed,” he said. “And the law just changed in September and that was part of the push in Ohio by the legislature. It was to make record sealing more available because of the job market, to let more people be able to work.”
Unsealing all of his now-secret cases is just not something Lyons is allowed to do, unless the high court orders him to, according to Jonson.
“One of the obstacles we’re faced with here is you can’t even draw a circle around how many of the sealed files were minor misdemeanors and how many of them were misdemeanors, because you have to open the file to see what it was,” Jonson said.
He has also been using a form for years that cites the wrong section of the Ohio Revised Code for sealing records. He has been using the code that deals with people who have been acquitted or charges dismissed for defendants who have been convicted of minor misdemeanors.
In light of this development, Prosecutor Mike Gmoser instructed his assistant prosecutor in that court to object to every sealing request for defendants who have been found guilty. Because this creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, Gmoser asked the Butler County commissioners to approve hiring another lawyer for Lyons, hence Jonson’s appointment.
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