FREMONT — The indictment of Sandusky County Sheriff Kyle Overmyer leaves a leadership vacuum in the department and the upcoming election for sheriff in flux.

Although Sheriff Overmyer, 42, is charged with 43 counts — 38 of which are felonies that include theft and tampering with records — he still remains sheriff and is on the ballot for re-election in November. He can’t contact anyone in the department, and the man who is currently the second-in-command is scheduled to retire on Friday.

Prosecutors want Sheriff Overmyer suspended while he faces trial. Since he’s still technically in office, he is receiving his $69,000 salary and would continue to do so if he is suspended, Sandusky County Administrator Theresa Garcia said.

Ms. Garcia said captains and the jail administrator “will continue doing their jobs,” but county commissioners have no authority to remove the sheriff from office or place anyone else in charge. 

She added that Sheriff Overmyer would only be ineligible to hold the office if he were convicted of a felony.

Sandusky County commissioners met Wednesday in a closed session to discuss personnel following the indictment on Tuesday night.

Sheriff Overmyer pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released from the Erie County jail Wednesday after posting bond.

He turned himself in to authorities at about 10 p.m. Tuesday after a Sandusky County grand jury indicted him, the end result of a year-long investigation into allegations involving drugs and misuse of funds.

The charges include 12 counts of tampering with records, 12 counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug, three counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug, six counts of theft in office, four counts of theft, and one count of theft. He also is charged with five counts of filing false financial disclosure reports, a misdemeanor charge.

The indictments allege he deceived physicians and pharmacists to obtain prescription pain medication and that he took medications from area prescription drug-disposal drop boxes.

“It’s very disappointing when you have someone in a position of trust who is under indictment,” special prosecutor Carol Hamilton O’Brien said.

Visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove presided over the arraignment and ordered the sheriff released on $150,000 bond with the option of paying 10 percent.

The judge also ordered Sheriff Overmyer to turn over any county-owned property, including two guns, and any computers, cell phones, or other sheriff’s office equipment. He also may not possess any guns while on bond, but Sheriff Overmyer’s attorney said he doesn’t own any personal weapons.

Sheriff Overmyer was told he can’t have any contact with sheriff’s office employees or any potential witnesses in the case.

Ms. O’Brien, of Delaware County, said she asked that the sheriff be held in Erie County instead of Sandusky County because “it would be extremely difficult for all of his correction officers to try to deal with him.”

Asked whether Sheriff Overmyer is accused of using the drugs himself or selling them, Ms. O’Brien said she couldn’t respond because she can’t discuss facts of the case.

Defense attorney Andrew Mayle would not comment on whether his client plans to resign or if he plans to continue to run for re-election. He said Sheriff Overmyer does not have a drug addiction and that he was focused on his client’s acquittal.

“My position is that it is a flawed investigation, and we will show that at trial,” Mr. Mayle said.

Ms. O’Brien said prosecutors planned to file a motion Wednesday to the Ohio Supreme Court to have Sheriff Overmyer suspended. If a court panel rules against him, he could be suspended until the criminal proceedings are completed, Ms. O’Brien said.

Judge Cosgrove set dates for future proceedings in the case, beginning with pretrial conferences in November and February. She set a trial date for March 6.

The state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation has been investigating Sheriff Overmyer for about a year at the request of Thomas Stierwalt, Sandusky County prosecutor.

The investigation was prompted in part by complaints from area police chiefs that the sheriff took possession of drugs surrendered to the police departments. Sheriff Overmyer responded at the time that the investigation was political in nature.

Sandusky County voters in March chose Sheriff Overmyer by 61 percent to 39 percent over Clyde Police Chief Bruce Gower in the Republican primary election. He is running against independents James Consolo and Christopher Hilton in November.

The deadline for a political party to replace a ballot vacancy for the Nov. 8 election was Aug. 15, so the Sandusky County Republican Party cannot put a replacement candidate in Sheriff Overmyer’s place in case he withdraws from his re-election race.

Justin Smith, chairman of the county Republican Party, said party leaders were evaluating their options Wednesday afternoon.

“We are not going to make any judgment until we see what’s going on,” he said. “I do believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.”

Calls to Sheriff Overmyer’s re-election campaign were not returned Wednesday.

Chief Gower said it would be difficult for the party not to ask Sheriff Overmyer to resign.

“I just think they’d be hard pressed to have a candidate under a 43-count indictment running for office,” he said.

Chief Gower said he “couldn’t get inside his head” when asked what happened with the sheriff, but that he wasn’t surprised by the indictment.

“I think it’s a sad day for law enforcement,” he said. “I feel for his family, but he did what he did and we spent a year trying to deal with it.”

Before the primary, John Meyers, Sandusky County prosecutor from 1984-2000, released a report alleging the sheriff “has committed counts of theft” from the sheriff’s Furtherance of Justice fund.

The fund is provided by state law, giving the sheriff an amount equal to half the sheriff’s salary “for expenses that the sheriff incurs in the performance of the sheriff’s official duties and in the furtherance of justice.” Mr. Meyers’ report is based on public-records requests he made regarding fund usage between 2009 and 2014.

In his report, Mr. Meyers stated several expenditures from the fund were improper, including dues payments to several service clubs, overcharges for travel expenses, and drug buys that Mr. Meyers argues were “not used for a law-enforcement purpose.”

The kind of expenditures the sheriff made is not common practice, Mr. Meyers concluded.

Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086, or on Twitter @NolanRosenkrans.

First Published August 25, 2016, 4:00 a.m.