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{{short description|American politician}}
'''James M. “Jim” Petro''' (born [[October 25]], [[1948]]) is an American politician from the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Party, and a former [[Ohio Attorney General]]. Previously, Petro also served as [[Ohio State Auditor]]. Petro was a candidate for the Republican nomination for [[Governor of Ohio]] during the 2006 Ohio Primaries, but lost to [[Ken Blackwell]].
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jim Petro
| image = Jim Petro, January 11, 2013 (cropped).jpg
| office1 = 46th [[Ohio Attorney General|Attorney General of Ohio]]
| term_start1 = January 5, 2003
| term_end1 = January 8, 2007
| governor1 = [[Bob Taft]]
| predecessor1 = [[Betty Montgomery]]
| successor1 = [[Marc Dann]]
| office2 = [[Ohio State Auditor|Auditor of Ohio]]
| governor2 = [[George Voinovich]]<br>[[Nancy Hollister]]<br>[[Bob Taft]]
| term_start2 = January 9, 1995
| term_end2 = January 5, 2003
| predecessor2 = Thomas E. Ferguson
| successor2 = [[Betty Montgomery]]
| state_house3 = Ohio
| state3 = Ohio
| district3 = [[Ohio's 6th House of Representatives district|6th]]
| term_start3 = January 2, 1987
| term_end3 = December 31, 1990
| predecessor3 = [[Jeff Jacobs]]
| successor3 = [[Ed Kasputis]]
| term_start4 = January 3, 1981
| term_end4 = May 22, 1984
| predecessor4 = [[Jim Betts (politician)|Jim Betts]]
| successor4 = [[Jeff Jacobs]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|10|25}}
| birth_place = [[Brooklyn, Ohio]], U.S.
| alma_mater = [[Denison University]]<br>[[Case Western Reserve University School of Law]]
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2016}}
'''James M. Petro''' (born October 25, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Party who served as the [[Ohio Attorney General|Attorney General of Ohio]]. Previously, Petro also served as [[Ohio State Auditor]] and he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for [[Governor of Ohio]] during the [[Ohio gubernatorial election, 2006#Republican primary|2006 Ohio primaries]], but lost to [[Ken Blackwell]].


==Early life and early career==
==Early life and early career==
Petro was born October 25, 1948 in [[Brooklyn, Ohio]]. A Brooklyn High School graduate, he attended [[Denison University]] in [[Granville, Ohio]] where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as initiated as a member of [[Lambda Chi Alpha]] [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]]. He later earned his law degree from [[Case Western Reserve University]] in [[Cleveland, Ohio]]. Petro served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for [[Franklin County, Ohio|Franklin County]] as a trial lawyer responsible for felony prosecutions, and then as Assistant Director of Law for the city of Cleveland, Ohio. After starting his private practice, Petro became prosecuting attorney for the city of [[Rocky River, Ohio]].
Petro was born October 25, 1948, in [[Brooklyn, Ohio]]. A Brooklyn High School graduate, he attended [[Denison University]] in [[Granville, Ohio]], where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree and joined the [[Lambda Chi Alpha]] [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]]. He later earned his [[Juris Doctor|J.D.]] degree from [[Case Western Reserve University School of Law]] in [[Cleveland, Ohio]]. Petro served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for [[Franklin County, Ohio|Franklin County]] as a trial lawyer responsible for felony prosecutions, and then as Assistant Director of Law for the city of Cleveland, Ohio. After starting his private practice, Petro became prosecuting attorney for the city of [[Rocky River, Ohio]].


==Political career==
==Political career==
Petro began his political career in 1977 when he was elected to the Rocky River city council, and later served as the director of the city. In 1980, he was elected to the [[Ohio House of Representatives]]. He served four years as a state representative. In 1991, Petro became County Commissioner for [[Cuyahoga County]]; during his four year term he was President of the board for a year.
Petro began his political career in 1977 when he was elected to the Rocky River city council, and later served as the director of the city. In 1980, he was elected to the [[Ohio House of Representatives]]. He served four years as a state representative.


In 1991, Petro became County Commissioner for [[Cuyahoga County]]; during his four-year term he was President of the board for a year.
Petro was elected Ohio Auditor in 1994. As Auditor he served as the chief inspector and supervisor of public offices in the state; the office is the largest state auditing agency in the United States, second in size only to the United States [[Government Accountability Office]].


Petro was elected Ohio Auditor in 1994 and re-elected in 1998, serving two terms from 1995 to 2003. As Auditor he served as the chief inspector and supervisor of public offices in the state; the office is the largest state auditing agency in the United States, second in size only to the United States [[Government Accountability Office]].
In November 2002, Petro was elected the Ohio attorney general. In 2005, Petro became the first Ohio attorney general to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court in over thirty years; he won the case by a vote of nine to zero. As Ohio’s Attorney General he successfully defended the law banning late term abortions in the state.


In November 2002, Petro was elected the Ohio attorney general, serving from 2003 to 2007. In 2005, Petro became the first Ohio attorney general to argue a case in front of the [[United States Supreme Court]] in over thirty years; he won the case by a vote of nine to zero. As Ohio's Attorney General he successfully defended the law banning late term abortions in the state. As attorney general, Petro also launched an effort that added 210,000 criminal DNA profiles from Ohio to the national [[CODIS|Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)]].
==Campaign contributions by lawyers==
Before Ohio enacted limits on campaign contributions in 1995, outside lawyers working for the attorney general's office directly gave more than $410,000 to the campaigns of Democrat [[Lee Fisher]], who served as Attorney General from 1991 through 1994.


==Candidacy for Governor==
In 1998, the state Republican party created a "candidate fund" to which lawyers and others could contribute; the fund in turn gives funds to candidates. In March 2006, the ''Toledo Blade'' reported that the GOP had directed contributions totaling $1.49 million to Petro, the current attorney general, and $1.27 million to State Auditor [[Betty Montgomery]], a former two-term attorney general running to become attorney general once again. If the Blade reporting is accurate, then the Ohio GOP is clearly favoring Petro over Blackwell in the primary campaign. Of note, this is the first open contested Republican primary for Governor in many years. The Ohio GOP has previously managed to broker their primaries; i.e., talking all candidates but the favored one into dropping out.
{{main|2006 Ohio gubernatorial election}}


On January 30, 2006, Petro announced that [[Joy Padgett]] would be his running mate for the Governor's position. Padgett, a Republican state senator from [[Coshocton, Ohio]], was selected after Petro's first running mate, Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich, dropped out of the campaign to run for re-election as Commissioner of Hamilton County.
The Blade's analysis found that firms that contributed the largest amounts of money to the candidate fund received among the most in fees from the state for being "special counsel" - private-sector lawyers hired to do legal work for the state. For example, through its lawyers, lawyers' families, and political-action committees, Calfee, Halter & Griswold, a Cleveland-based law firm, has contributed at least $186,000 to the Ohio GOP's state candidate fund since 1998. In that same period, the firm has collected more than $17 million in fees from the attorney general's office, all in no-bid contracts. [http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060326/NEWS24/603260335]
I can speak to that. I was sued in the Butler County Probate Court by one of Jim Petro's "Special Counsels".


Petro was defeated in the May 2, 2006, primary by [[Ken Blackwell]], Ohio's then-[[Ohio Secretary of State|Secretary of State]].
==Candidate for Governor==
{{main|Ohio gubernatorial election, 2006}}


==Legal work and ''False Justice''==
[[Image:Photo5.jpg|left|thumb|This screenshot is from an advertisement for Petro's failed bid for the Republican nomination for governor.]]
Petro became the first attorney general in the country to intervene in a case spearheaded by the [[Innocence Project]], a non-profit legal clinic that pioneered the use of [[DNA testing]] to prove wrongful conviction. The case exonerated [[Clarence Elkins]], a family man with no prior criminal record who had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his mother-in-law.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
On January 30th, 2006, Petro announced that Joy Padgett would be his running mate for the Governor’s position. Padgett, a Republican state senator from [[Coshocton, Ohio]], was selected after Petro’s first running mate, Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich, dropped out of the campaign to run for re-election as Commissioner of Hamilton County.
After his involvement in subsequent high-profile cases including Dean Gillispie. Petro and his wife Nancy co-authored ''False Justice: Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent'', which raises questions regarding the fairness of the American justice system and identifies flaws in how police and prosecutors handle evidence, especially in capital cases. The book also examines how the authors believe DNA evidence has played a critical role in exonerating convicted people and highlight what the authors call the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}


==Board of Regents==
Petro positioned himself as a conservative in the primary election. He is pro-life, against gay marriage, and supports Ohio’s concealed carry weapons law.
Petro was appointed chancellor of the [[Ohio Board of Regents]] in March 2011 by Governor [[John Kasich]]. Chancellor Petro leads the [[University System of Ohio]], which is one of the largest comprehensive systems of public higher education in the nation. The University System of Ohio bears the primary responsibility for raising Ohioans' educational attainment.<ref>[http://ohio.gov/news/2011/02/#022811a Governor's office press release] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127104134/http://ohio.gov/news/2011/02/#022811a |date=January 27, 2016 }}. Ohio.gov (February 2011). Retrieved on January 22, 2016.</ref>


==Publications==
At one point in the campaign, Petro had raised the most money for his campaign, having $2 million on hand. The Blackwell campaign had $1.5 million on hand. Several polls conducted showed Blackwell as the frontrunner; one of these was an April 2006 poll that showed Blackwell leading Petro 39-32 in the primary, with 29 percent undecided.[http://www.onnnews.com/?sec=home&story=ONN/content/pool/200604/215346639.html]
*{{cite book |title=False Justice: Eight Myths That Convict the Innocent| first1=Jim |last1=Petro |authorlink1=Jim Petro |first2=Nancy |last2=Petro |publisher=Kaplan Publishing|year=2011 |isbn=978-1-60714-467-0}}


==References==
Petro, along with 14 other candidates, (including Blackwell and eventual [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] nominee [[Ted Strickland]]) were accused by the Ohio Citizen Action group to have failed to meet Ohio's campaign contribution law which requires best efforts to disclose the names, addresses, employment status, employer, and place of employment of individuals who donate $100 or more to a political campaign. Blackwell, Petro, and Strickland all received a "B letter grade" from the group for their levels of disclosure. [http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1145349307302720.xml&coll=2]
{{Reflist}}


{{s-start}}
Petro was defeated in the May 2, 2006 primary by [[Ken Blackwell]], Ohio's then-Secretary of State.
{{s-par | us-oh-hs}}
{{succession box
| title = Member of the [[Ohio House of Representatives]] <br> from the 6th district
| years = January 3, 1981 – May 22, 1984
| before = [[Jim Betts (politician)|Jim Betts]]
| after = [[Jeff Jacobs]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = Member of the [[Ohio House of Representatives]] <br> from the [[Ohio's 6th House of Representatives district|6th]] district
| years = January 2, 1987 – December 31, 1990
| before = [[Jeff Jacobs]]
| after = [[Ed Kasputis]]
}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Waldo Rose]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Ohio State Auditor|Auditor of Ohio]]|years=[[Ohio State Auditor elections|1990]], [[Ohio State Auditor elections|1994]], [[Ohio State Auditor elections|1998]]}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Betty Montgomery]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Betty Montgomery]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Ohio Attorney General|Attorney General of Ohio]]|years=2002}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Ohio State Auditor|Auditor of Ohio]]
| years = January 9, 1995 – January 5, 2003
| before = Thomas E. Ferguson
| after = [[Betty Montgomery]]
}}
{{s-legal}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Ohio Attorney General|Attorney General of Ohio]]
| years = January 5, 2003 – January 8, 2007
| before = [[Betty Montgomery]]
| after = [[Marc Dann]]
}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box
| title = Chancellor of the [[University System of Ohio]]
| years = 2011–2013
| before = [[Eric Fingerhut]]
| after = [[John Carey (Ohio state legislator)|John Carey]]
}}
{{s-end}}


{{University System of Ohio chancellors}}

{{OHAttorneyGeneral}}

{{start box}}
{{OHStateAuditor}}
{{Authority control}}
{{succession box |title=[[Attorney General of Ohio]] |before=[[Betty Montgomery]] |after=[[Marc Dann]] |years=2003 &ndash; 2007}}
{{end box}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Petro, Jim}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petro, Jim}}
[[Category:Ohio Attorneys General]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:People from Ohio]]
[[Category:Case Western Reserve University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University System of Ohio]]
[[Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni|Petro, Jim]]
[[Category:Denison University alumni]]
[[Category:Denison University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Ohio attorneys general]]
[[Category:People from Brooklyn, Ohio]]
[[Category:Politicians from Cleveland]]
[[Category:Ohio state auditors]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly]]

Latest revision as of 05:18, 13 December 2024

Jim Petro
46th Attorney General of Ohio
In office
January 5, 2003 – January 8, 2007
GovernorBob Taft
Preceded byBetty Montgomery
Succeeded byMarc Dann
Auditor of Ohio
In office
January 9, 1995 – January 5, 2003
GovernorGeorge Voinovich
Nancy Hollister
Bob Taft
Preceded byThomas E. Ferguson
Succeeded byBetty Montgomery
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 6th district
In office
January 2, 1987 – December 31, 1990
Preceded byJeff Jacobs
Succeeded byEd Kasputis
In office
January 3, 1981 – May 22, 1984
Preceded byJim Betts
Succeeded byJeff Jacobs
Personal details
Born (1948-10-25) October 25, 1948 (age 76)
Brooklyn, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materDenison University
Case Western Reserve University School of Law

James M. Petro (born October 25, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician of the Republican Party who served as the Attorney General of Ohio. Previously, Petro also served as Ohio State Auditor and he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Ohio during the 2006 Ohio primaries, but lost to Ken Blackwell.

Early life and early career

[edit]

Petro was born October 25, 1948, in Brooklyn, Ohio. A Brooklyn High School graduate, he attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree and joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He later earned his J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio. Petro served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Franklin County as a trial lawyer responsible for felony prosecutions, and then as Assistant Director of Law for the city of Cleveland, Ohio. After starting his private practice, Petro became prosecuting attorney for the city of Rocky River, Ohio.

Political career

[edit]

Petro began his political career in 1977 when he was elected to the Rocky River city council, and later served as the director of the city. In 1980, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. He served four years as a state representative.

In 1991, Petro became County Commissioner for Cuyahoga County; during his four-year term he was President of the board for a year.

Petro was elected Ohio Auditor in 1994 and re-elected in 1998, serving two terms from 1995 to 2003. As Auditor he served as the chief inspector and supervisor of public offices in the state; the office is the largest state auditing agency in the United States, second in size only to the United States Government Accountability Office.

In November 2002, Petro was elected the Ohio attorney general, serving from 2003 to 2007. In 2005, Petro became the first Ohio attorney general to argue a case in front of the United States Supreme Court in over thirty years; he won the case by a vote of nine to zero. As Ohio's Attorney General he successfully defended the law banning late term abortions in the state. As attorney general, Petro also launched an effort that added 210,000 criminal DNA profiles from Ohio to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

Candidacy for Governor

[edit]
Main article: 2006 Ohio gubernatorial election

On January 30, 2006, Petro announced that Joy Padgett would be his running mate for the Governor's position. Padgett, a Republican state senator from Coshocton, Ohio, was selected after Petro's first running mate, Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich, dropped out of the campaign to run for re-election as Commissioner of Hamilton County.

Petro was defeated in the May 2, 2006, primary by Ken Blackwell, Ohio's then-Secretary of State.

[edit]

Petro became the first attorney general in the country to intervene in a case spearheaded by the Innocence Project, a non-profit legal clinic that pioneered the use of DNA testing to prove wrongful conviction. The case exonerated Clarence Elkins, a family man with no prior criminal record who had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his mother-in-law.[citation needed]

After his involvement in subsequent high-profile cases including Dean Gillispie. Petro and his wife Nancy co-authored False Justice: Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent, which raises questions regarding the fairness of the American justice system and identifies flaws in how police and prosecutors handle evidence, especially in capital cases. The book also examines how the authors believe DNA evidence has played a critical role in exonerating convicted people and highlight what the authors call the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.[citation needed]

Board of Regents

[edit]

Petro was appointed chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents in March 2011 by Governor John Kasich. Chancellor Petro leads the University System of Ohio, which is one of the largest comprehensive systems of public higher education in the nation. The University System of Ohio bears the primary responsibility for raising Ohioans' educational attainment.[1]

Publications

[edit]
  • Petro, Jim; Petro, Nancy (2011). False Justice: Eight Myths That Convict the Innocent. Kaplan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60714-467-0.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Governor's office press release Archived January 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Ohio.gov (February 2011). Retrieved on January 22, 2016.
Ohio House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 6th district
January 3, 1981 – May 22, 1984 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 6th district
January 2, 1987 – December 31, 1990 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Auditor of Ohio
1990, 1994, 1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Republican nominee for Attorney General of Ohio
2002
Political offices
Preceded by
Thomas E. Ferguson
 Auditor of Ohio
January 9, 1995 – January 5, 2003 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Ohio
January 5, 2003 – January 8, 2007 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University System of Ohio
2011–2013 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Jim_Petro&oldid=1262797145"