Wright State University.

The university suspended payments to economic development consultant Ron Wine after the Dayton Daily News revealed that the university had paid him nearly $2 million since 2009, including almost $1 million in 2014 – a year in which there was no written contract. The Ohio Inspector General said his office is still investigating.

Ohio State University.

Two university leaders had run-ins with the Ohio Ethics Commission. In December 2014, the commission settled an investigation involving U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley, who served as both a trustee and a paid adjunct law professor at Ohio State University. Marbley agreed to resign from the OSU Board of Trustees and teach law school classes at no charge for two semesters.

OSU President E. Gordon Gee

avoided sanctions in August 2012 when the Ohio Ethics Commission determined that his omission of more than $100,000 in unreported travel expenses from his financial disclosure statement was inadvertent. He abruptly announced his retirement in June 2013 after a series of gaffes.

Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation

.In April 2005, the Toledo Blade broke stories on an ethics and investment scandal at the BWC and the governor’s office that eventually led to 19 criminal convictions and an overhaul of how the bureau oversees its investments.

Public pension systems.

Lawmakers revamped how Ohio’s five public retirement systems are governed and placed annual limits on travel by pension trustees in 2004. A Dayton Daily News investigation in September 2003 found that the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund trustees spent $612,451 on travel and expenses between 1998 and mid-2003. That report triggered an Ohio Ethics Commission investigation, which found four pension vendors gave more than $200,000 in meals, entertainment, golf and travel to Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund trustees, staff, family members and friends between 1998 and 2003. Two trustees were convicted of criminal charges. Similar problems were found at the State Teachers Retirement System as well.

Chris Widener.

The Springfield Republican, a long-time advocate for Central State University, was given a $6,000-a-month consulting contract with the university in February 2016, a day after he stepped down from the Ohio Senate. Ethics laws do not prohibit a sitting lawmaker from seeking a job with a state agency or university as long as they don’t use their position to influence their hiring.

In Ohio, three watchdog agencies are charged with overseeing hundreds of thousands of employees. Those agencies conduct investigations, issue opinions, dole out advice and in rare cases refer criminal activity to local prosecutor’s offices.

Ohio taxpayers spend millions of dollars every year on the state’s efforts to ensure that public employees are following state ethics laws.

Here are the three agencies and how they operate:

Staffing: Annual Budget:

$2.2 million Established in

History:

1990 15

Jurisdiction:

156,000 employees of public colleges and universities as well as agencies under the governor’s control.

The IG is appointed by the governor to a four-year term

Forty-eight cases opened from 397

Governance: 2016 work: THE HISTORY OF SCANDAL AND INFLUENCE PEDDLING IN OHIO POLITICS IS LONG AND RICH.

complaints; 57 cases were closed, resulting in four criminal charges in three cases. Allegations were substantiated in 54 percent of the cases. other topics. Seventy-four investigation cases were opened while 71 were closed. Most of the investigations dealt with public contract and nepotism. And only 5 percent of investigations focused on state government; the rest centered on cities, counties, schools, townships, universities and vendors.

In May 1911 the New York Times takes Ohio politicos to task with the headline: “Wholesale Debauchery of the Ohio Legislature: How the Army of Lobbyists at Columbus Took Over the Business of Making Laws for the State – Wine and Women Employed as Well as Money.” It was another 60 years or so before Ohio got serious about cracking down on the ethical behavior of its politicians. Here is a look at five major developments in Ohio Ethics Law: 1974: In the wake of Watergate, Ohio establishes statewide ethics laws and the Ohio Ethics Commission, an independent investigative and advisory body. 1994: Lawmakers create the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee and the Office of the Legislative Inspector General to regulate lobbyists, lawmakers and legislative staff. 1995: Ohio passes the first major overhaul of campaign finance laws in two decades, placing $2,500 limits on contributions from individuals and political action committees. 2004: Campaign finance laws are overhauled again, bumping up contribution limits to $10,000 for individuals and PACs, requiring more disclosures and restricting how labor organizations can use dues money for political purposes. The move came after a series of campaign finance scandals.

2004: Lawmakers revamp how Ohio’s five public pension systems are governed, adding more financial experts to boards, requiring more disclosure and placing limits on travel expenses. The changes came after the Dayton Daily News reported on travel and entertainment expenses incurred by pension trustees. The Ohio Ethics Commission investigated wrongdoing at the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund and State Teachers Retirement System.