UPDATE: Supreme Court Appointed Panel Condemns Grendell’s Court Administrator
“The people of Geauga County deserve better. If elected, I pledge to restore the court to its intended role as a nonpartisan arbiter of justice.” – Matt Rambo
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comments from Matt Rambo and Kimberly Laurie regarding the Board of Professional Conduct’s unanimous order finding Laurie filed a frivolous grievance against Rambo to obtain an advantage for Grendell.
The Supreme Court of Ohio’s Board of Professional Conduct has issued a blistering condemnation of Geauga County Probate/Juvenile Court Tim Grendell’s hand-picked court administrator for filing a frivolous grievance against Matt Rambo, Grendell’s Republican opponent in the March 17 primary, “for the purpose of obtaining an advantage for a judicial candidate.”
The panel also ordered her to cease and desist posting, publishing or broadcasting any reference to her grievance, and to immediately remove all electronic posts and communications referencing it, unless such posts expressly state her grievance was dismissed at her cost.
“I applaud the board for their speedy handling of this matter and their recognition of this complaint for what it is – frivolous and filed solely for the purpose of influencing an election,” Rambo said in a March 7 press release. “The people of Geauga County deserve better. If elected, I pledge to restore the court to its intended role as a nonpartisan arbiter of justice.”
On Feb. 18, Court Administrator Kimberly Laurie filed a grievance against Rambo with the OBPC, a 28-member quasi-judicial body appointed by the Supreme Court of Ohio, responsible for, among other things, adjudicating formal complaints of misconduct involving judges and lawyers.
In her four-count complaint, Laurie alleged Rambo violated the Code of Judicial Conduct during the current campaign for Geauga County Probate/Juvenile Court judge. She claimed Rambo distributed false statements about his voting history and disseminated a “multitude of false statements” about Grendell.
Ten days later, on Feb. 28, Laurie emailed — from her personal email — area newspapers, including the Geauga County Maple Leaf, Chagrin Valley Times, News-Herald and Plain Dealer, advising that OBPC Director Richard A. Dove had initiated formal disciplinary proceedings against Rambo for violating the rules of judicial conduct. Three of her allegations, however, were dismissed.
Days later, the Grendell campaign — Keep Judge Grendell — mailed a postcard to Geauga County voters. On one side of the postcard was a less than flattering black and white photo of Rambo and statements claiming Geauga County could not trust Rambo, and that he was facing an ethics complaint and disciplinary action.
Grendell also uploaded a photo of the postcard to his campaign Facebook page, but it was later deleted.
On the other side, Grendell urged voters to trust him, telling them he has served the bench “ethically and honorably,” and that his service is “beyond reproach.” He also said, “Our judges should be held to the highest ethical standards.”
On March 6, a three-member OBPC hearing panel unanimously dismissed Laurie’s complaint after a four-hour hearing, finding it was frivolous and filed solely for the purpose of helping Grendell in his race against Rambo. It also ordered her to pay the costs of the proceedings.
The panel also ordered additional sanctions on Laurie.
“The panel further orders (Laurie), her agents, and any judicial campaign committee she has assisted or is assisting to immediately cease and desist from posting, publishing or broadcasting, in any medium, reference to this judicial campaign action that does not include a reference (of) the dismissal of the charged violation at (Laurie’s) cost,” the panel wrote in its two-page order.
“The panel further orders (Laurie), her agents, and any campaign committee she has assisted or is assisting to immediately (1) remove any existing electronic posts and communications that reference this judicial campaign action or (2) modify such posts to indicate the dismissal of said action at (Laurie’s) cost.”
When reached for comment, Laurie said her motivation in filing the grievance “was solely out of a desire to protect public confidence” in the probate/juvenile court from Rambo’s campaign statements. She said those statements “have been interpreted to imply that individuals who come before the court can’t trust that they’ll be treated fairly and impartially.”
“Unfortunately, after approximately four hours, the panel ultimately did not determine that the evidence presented was clear and convincing enough to move Director Dove’s complaint to the next step in the process, and so the complaint was dismissed at (my) costs.”
