MOUNT VERNON — The Nov. 4 General Election featured 16 write-in candidates on the ballot, ranging from trustees to school board members.
In researching eligibility criteria for write-in candidates, the elections board discovered an irregularity involving the Clear Fork School District and which educational service center it belongs to.
In 2009, Clear Fork Local Schools passed a resolution to leave the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center (MOESC) and annex to the Knox County Educational Service Center (KCESC).
The State Board of Education approved the annexation, which took effect on July 1, 2011.
That means voters in the Clear Fork Local Schools District in both Knox and Richland counties vote on Knox ESC board members.
However, in the Nov. 4 General Election, district residents living in Richland County voted for Mid-Ohio ESC board members.
“I’ve spoken to the folks at Knox ESC, and they’re telling me that Clear Fork moved to Mid-Ohio,” Knox County Board of Elections Director James Blazer said. “I asked them to provide me the paperwork.”
Clear Fork references the board minutes from the May 20, 2025, meeting, which state that the board approved a service agreement with MOESC for the 2025-26 school year.
However, the minutes also show the board approved a service agreement with KCESC for the 2025-26 school year.
Knox ESC provided a 2023 Richland Source article stating Mid-Ohio welcomes Clear Fork as a client district.
“That’s not official,” Blazer said. “It may show that’s what their desires are, but they have to legally notify us. And they have to notify us of their board members when they appoint them.
“They have to notify us if they’re moving around because that changes how the ballots are. When we brought that to the attention of the Richland Board of Elections, they disagreed,” Blazer said.
Richland County: It stops at the county line
When a school district overlaps multiple counties, the most populous county controls the language and what goes on the ballot. The least populous county follows suit.
“So if they are legally part of Mid-Ohio, then the Knox County voters that are part of Clear Fork should be given an opportunity to vote in that election,” Blazer said.
In essence, if Richland County BOE is correct, Knox voters should see what appeared on Richland’s ballot. They should not see anything about Knox ESC.
If Knox County BOE is correct, then Richland County voters should see what appeared on Knox’s ballot. They should not see anything about MOESC.
“We’re not the only county that has these problems. Almost every county we talk to, the educational service centers give people headaches.”
Jane Zimmermann, deputy director richland county board of elections
Richland County Board of Elections contends that the county line is the dividing line between voters: Knox County school district residents vote on Knox ESC, Richland County school district residents vote on Mid-Ohio ESC.
“Previously Knox County had been on Richland County’s ballot up until 2017, from like 2011 through 2017, I believe. Since that time, they have not been on Richland County’s ballot,” Richland Elections Director Matt Finfgeld said. “That came from things from our county prosecutor.”
Finfgeld said the annexation issue arose after early voting started in the Nov. 4 election.
“We felt that we were comfortable with keeping Clear Fork with Mid-Ohio. We did talk with the Secretary of State, and they said not to change anything at this point,” Richland Deputy Director Jane Zimmermann said.
“We are going to have ongoing discussions with them going into the next odd-year elections, because this has to be cleared up.”
Eligibility criteria for serving as an ESC member
In addition to which board members Clear Fork school district residents should vote on, ESC board member eligibility comes into play.
ESC board members must reside in the district(s) the ESC serves. They are not eligible for membership if they live in a school district that merely contracts with an ESC.
“A service contract does not allow you to vote on board members,” Blazer said.
For example, Mount Vernon City Schools contracts with the Knox ESC but is not a member. Therefore, Mount Vernon residents are not eligible to serve on the KCESC board.
All of the write-in candidates on Knox’s ballot for Knox ESC were valid candidates and live in the KCESC district.
If Clear Fork is legally in the Knox ESC, then an MOESC board member cannot be from Clear Fork Local Schools. However, Bellville resident William Hope currently serves on the MOESC. He was elected to the board in 2023.
“There were some rulings on that where he wasn’t and then he was able to [serve]. We have the [previous] prosecutor’s opinions on that,” Zimmermann said.
Richland County BOE declined to provide the rulings, citing attorney-client privilege.
Secretary of State’s opinion
Blazer noted that Knox ESC overlaps with Coshocton, Ashland, Morrow, and Licking counties.
“Not one of them stops at the border,” Blazer said. “The only one that stops at the border is Richland.”
Blazer sought clarification from the Secretary of State’s Office (SOS) in early October as to how Clear Fork voters should vote in the Nov. 4 General Election.
The SOS responded that “Clear Fork residents should vote in the Knox ESC election, not the Mid-Ohio election, and that the Clear Fork district voters should not be split on county lines.”
However, the SOS also stated that Richland County has not raised the issue with its office, and for the Nov. 4 election, the office cannot compel Richland County to place Knox ESC elections on its ballots for Clear Fork residents.
“This Board of Elections had never heard of that annexation. Our county prosecutor had never heard of tht annexation,” Richland County’s Finfgeld said. “I don’t think the Knox County prosecutor had heard of that annexation.”
Finfgeld said Richland County wants to comply with regulations.
“I’m just trying to get on the same page and understand what’s going on, is my objective,” he said. “We just want to be in compliance, and we want a legal opinion that’s going to back us up on whatever way we go.”