Leonard Sines isn’t qualified to be a candidate for Fayette County Sheriff, according to a review by the Fayette County Board of Elections.
The Board of Elections met Wednesday to review Sines’s qualifications as an independent candidate for Fayette County Sheriff. Sines failed to provide clear and compelling evidence qualifying him as a candidate in the Nov. 8 general election, said members of the Board of Elections. The Board of Elections did not certify Sines’s candidacy for sheriff.
Board members said Sines submitted an affidavit for candidacy but failed to meet the necessary qualifications. Those qualifications are not determined by the Board of Elections but are statutory requirements set forth by Ohio law. Sheriff qualifications are mandated by law in Ohio Revised Code Section 311.01 “Election and qualification of sheriff.”
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 311.01 9(a) and 9(b), the sheriff must meet at least one of the following criteria: have at least two consecutive years of supervisory experience as a peace officer at the rank of sergeant or above, or have completed a bachelor’s degree in any field or have an associate degree in law enforcement or criminal justice from a college or university authorized to confer degrees by the Ohio board of regents. The Board of Elections stated Sines’s affidavit did not show he met either of those two criteria necessary for qualification.
“He says he completed supervisor school conducted by the State of Ohio Highway Patrol in Columbus, Ohio plus has completed over four years of college credit,” said board member Myron Priest.
“He may have four years of college credit but he does not say he has a degree, he doesn’t even say how much of that time was spent in law enforcement,” said board member Judy Craig.
“He has not proved that he has the supervisory, he has not proved he’s got his degree. I don’t see where he’s had the qualifications,” said Robin Beekman, board member.
“Based on 9(a) and (b), a lack of clear and compelling evidence, we chose this,” said board member Dan Roberts of the board’s unanimous decision to not certify Sines’s candidacy for sheriff. “There was no clear and compelling evidence. I wish there was, but there’s not.”
Sines did not file an affidavit with the specific qualifications mandated by the Ohio Revised Code before the filing deadline to qualify him for sheriff, concluded the members of the Board of Elections.
Fayette County Sheriff Vernon P. Stanforth is uncontested for re-election in the Nov. 8 general election.
Sines could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
