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Investigation: Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources lawyer worked second job on state's dime

An attorney for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources misused state resources when he stored documents related to a second job on his state-issued computer, an investigation by the Ohio Inspector General found. The Ohio Inspector General launched an investigation into ODNR Deputy Legal Counsel Matthew Westerman in June after receiving a referral from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The Inspector General's office issued a report Thursday that found Westerman worked on multiple occasions for a secondary job at MCS and Associates while also working for ODNR. ODNR's legal department had approved Westerman's employment with the construction and project management firm, the report found. However, Westerman used state resources for his second job, which violated ODNR policies. In November, ODNR told Westerman to stop all his work with MCS and Associates, and he agreed, the report said. The investigation found that he made nearly 150 phone calls for MCS-related work while on the clock for ODNR, sent or received 70 emails using his state email account, and stored 29 MCS-related files on his state-issued computer or state cloud storage. The investigation found this amounted to more than 26 hours of work over about two years being done for Westerman's secondary employer while on the clock for the state, totaling about $2,182 in pay and benefits from ODNR, a report issued Thursday said. Westerman has worked as deputy legal counsel for ODNR since 2022. According to the Ohio Supreme Court's attorney registry, he remains employed there as of Thursday. The Ohio Inspector General has sent the investigation and report to the Columbus City Attorney's office and the Franklin County Prosecutor's office for review. The investigation and report have also been sent to the Ohio Auditor of State's office and the Ohio Office of Disciplinary Counsel. bbruner@ This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ODNR lawyer found working second job on state time, investigation shows