Sheriff Jack Hall sues commissioners for control of Lorain County 911 services

Lorain County Sheriff Jack Hall on Wednesday sued county commissioners in an ongoing dispute over who controls 911 emergency dispatch services in Lorain County. The 17-page lawsuit, with 83 pages of attached exhibits, was filed in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. It claims the commissioners' alleged refusal to work with Hall on running 911 "jeopardizes the health and safety of Lorain County residents." Commissioners also allegedly interfered with an ongoing criminal investigation by the sheriff's Public Corruption Unit into an unnamed former vendor at Lorain County 911 who may have gotten improper access to secure law enforcement databases, according to Hall's lawsuit. Hall's argument centers on a 2011 memorandum of understanding, or MOU, entered into by then-Sheriff Phil Stammitti Sheriff's Office and commissioners that "expressely required the collaboration of the parties not only for the merger of emergency 911 dispatch services in Lorain County, but also for operation of the services after merger." Despite that, Hall alleged, the county has continued to operate Lorain County 911 without him and "refused to provide critical access and information regarding the 911 center's operations," according to his lawsuit. The lawsuit is initially assigned to Judge Raymond Ewers. It asks for a ruling giving Hall "full access" to 911 to audit it for compliance with the law and for rulings ordering commissioners to comply with past agreements on the management of 911. Lorain County 911 operates out of a dispatch center on Burns Road in Elyria. It is funded by levy dollars, the county general fund and cell phone user fees. Hall's lawsuit said the 2011 MOU merged 911 and the Sheriff's dispatch center into one central system and that the county and sheriff agreed to collaborate in it and entered into several agreements saying so over the years. The commissioners have "effectively taken unilateral control ... and refused to collaborate" with the sheriff, according to the lawsuit. There also are issues of who has access to restricted systems such as the Law Enforcement Automated Data System, or LEADS; the FBI's National Crime Information Center, or NCIC; the secure Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, or OHLEG; and other law enforcement databases. Hall's lawsuit said his agency has an open criminal investigation into the former 911 vendor — the name of the vendor and its principal were redacted in the lawsuit — that required him to restrict its access to county computer systems in November. An audit "revealed that the vendor may have inappropriately accessed sensitive" law enforcement databases, the lawsuit alleges. According to the lawsuit, Commissioner Jeff Riddell allegedly "demanded" in December that Hall permit the company to have access to the system again. A message seeking comment was left for Riddell. County officials also allegedly refused to turn over information so Hall could complete an audit requested by LEADS, according to the lawsuit. Commissioners Riddell and Marty Gallagher out-voted Moore 2-1 in December to hire the Avon-based law firm Wickens Herzer Panza to represent Hall in the dispute. Moore mocked Hall's lawsuit on Wednesday. "When Democrats can't legislate, they litigate," he said. Reminded that Hall is a Republican, like him, Moore told a reporter: "I find that insulting." He said Hall hasn't always been a Republican: The sheriff switched parties from Democrat to Republican in 2022 before winning the 2024 election as a member of the GOP. "I believe the complaint speaks or itself and statements made outside of court pleadings are unprotected speech," Hall said in response to Moore's comment. Moore also said that if elected officials keep suing the county, "their legal fees are going to be coming out of their budgets" for as long as they keep doing "Hail Mary passes in the courts" — a reference to a desperate, long forward pass in football. Commissioners voted in November to hire the law firm Gembala, McLaughlin & Pecora to represent them in the fight with Hall. Their attorney, Dennis O'Toole, alleged Hall's "troubling recent actions" were "motivated by a political power grab at the expense of public safety," he wrote in Dec. 30 letter to Richard Panza, who is representing Hall. The letter, and several more back-and-forth between the attorneys, were attached to Hall's lawsuit as exhibits. "The board hopes that this dispute can be resolved amicably, but, to be clear, the sheriff needs to cease its efforts to infringe on the board's operations of emergency communications for the county," O'Toole wrote. Hall is continuing a fight started by Stammitti in early 2024. Stammitti argued he never waived his legal right to control the 911 system, which was granted to him by state law. Ohio law says the county sheriff in any county with a population less than 750,000 "shall operate the countywide public safety communications system." Stammitti approached commissioners about the issue two years ago. They hired an attorney to fight the claim, but refused to hire one for him. Ewers and five other Common Pleas judges eventually appointed Charles Schneider to represent Stammitti in August 2024. No lawsuit or legal action was filed, but Moore said Schneider billed the county $40,000 for his work. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.