Williams County sheriff expected to resign over privacy issue

The Williams County sheriff is expected to resign following his misdemeanor conviction for improperly disclosing confidential information in a child abuse case. Lewis Hilkert, vice president of the board of county commissioners, told The Blade on Friday that he expected Sheriff Steven Towns to submit a letter of resignation effective March 17. "It's a sad time in Williams County," Mr. Hilkert said. "The county needs time to heal ... because a respected officer is resigning his position." When reached by email Friday, Sheriff Towns declined to comment, referring all questions to his attorney Hank Schaefer, who could not be reached for comment. A jury convicted Sheriff Towns on the charge in Bryan Municipal Court in November and cleared him of a second identical charge. Three additional misdemeanors of improperly releasing child abuse reports were dismissed. All charges were filed by the Ohio Attorney General's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The sheriff was sentenced to 180 days in jail, all suspended; three years on monitored community control, during which he is not to release any confidential information, and to pay associated court costs. The sheriff posted hundreds of pages to the county sheriff's website and Facebook page in October, 2018, according to statements made by officials last June. The post included at least two confidential reports of suspected child abuse and the illegal identification of at least one child victim, they said. Sheriff Towns told The Blade in June that he cooperated with the investigation and the Facebook postings were related to a dispute with Williams County Job and Family Services. He removed a report as soon as he realized his department did not properly redact all confidential information as he believed, he said. In November, he announced he was appealing his misdemeanor conviction. A.J. Nowaczyk, Williams County Board of Election director, said the sheriff's name has been taken off the 2020 March primary ballot. Sheriff Towns, a Republican, had previously announced plans to seek re-election. Those currently on the March primary ballot are Shaun Fulk, a former Williams County sheriff's deputy; Tom Kochert, a former wildlife officer for Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and Tim Livengood, Pioneer, Ohio's police chief, all Republicans. ——— ©2020 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) Visit The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) at www.toledoblade.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.