Ryan Black, a former Hocking County prosecutor, has been suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court for two years, with six months stayed, for inappropriate conduct in his office.
Black won his election back in November 2020 and stepped down in 2024.
In April 2024, The Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed a complaint with the Board of Professional Conduct about Black’s behavior.
He was charged with three counts of sexual misconduct, engaging in inappropriate conduct with two office employees and a client, as well as threatening to arrest the Hocking County information-technology director when he didn’t immediately fix a technology issue in the prosecutor’s office.
The court case, Disciplinary Counsel v. Black, stated that “Black created an unprofessional work environment through his inappropriate language and behavior.”
Black made sexual comments, used profanity and created a hostile environment in his office through his erratic behavior.
Black had struggled off and on with alcohol abuse. He was medically discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard due to “alcohol rehabilitation failure” and was arrested in 2010 for drunken driving. He claimed to be sober from 2013 to 2023, and during this time he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He had been sober during these instances of misconduct, but began drinking again in October 2023. Four months before he resigned, Black sought treatment for his alcohol abuse and mental health issues. He was also diagnosed with agoraphobia with a panic disorder.
Black claimed responsibility for the misconduct in his office. He said the Hocking County Prosecutor’s Office “was one of the most, if not the most, unprofessionally run office[s] in the state, and that was entirely [his] responsibility, and is absolutely disgusting to [him] that [he] would permit that.”
The last six months of Black’s suspension could be lifted as long as Black does not commit any other misconduct and submits reports about his treatment for his mental health and his substance use disorder. He will also need to participate in an Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program (OLAP), which will include random drug and alcohol testing. He can return to practicing law when a healthcare professional agrees upon his capability to return.
WOSU could not get in touch with Black's lawyer, Alvin E. Mathews Jr. for his comments on the situation.