CINCINNATI – A high-profile county prosecutor in Cincinnati is taking a part-time job with a private law firm to help offset budget cuts in his office.
The move by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters is legal and not unusual in Ohio, but it can create problems.
John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, says conflict of interest issues come up fairly frequently when a prosecutor also has a private practice.
Deters can practice only civil law in his outside job, since his public office prosecutes criminal cases.
Attorney Stan Chesley, whose law firm hired Deters, says he won't have Deters do any work that might raise questions about a conflict.
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