Butler County Commissioner Jim Eckstein insists justice won’t be served by a committee of attorneys reviewing whether he made an unfounded accusation against President Judge Thomas Doerr.

The names of the three attorneys from the Butler County Bar Association appointed to the committee were released Monday.

Attorney Mike Gallagher, president of the bar association, named retired Judge George Hancher, Zelienople attorney Phil Lope and Butler attorney Elizabeth Smith.

The bar association on June 27 voted 31-0 to determine if there should be a response to what Eckstein said at the June 19 commissioners meeting.

During that meeting, Eckstein said the elimination of the part-time jury commissioners would enable jury tampering in a defamation case against him.

He accused fellow Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, who is one of three people suing Eckstein, of spearheading the jury commissioners’ removal so Pinkerton could conspire with Doerr to taint the jury pool for the defamation case.

Eckstein maintains he wasn’t accusing Doerr of impropriety, just having the appearance of impropriety.

According to Eckstein, at least two of the three attorneys on the committee will be biased against him.

“George Hancher was appointed to his first term in office,” Eckstein said. “I was not. Hancher is not a fan of outspoken government and as a former county judge, he certainly doesn’t qualify as a neutral third party.”

Eckstein also said Lope would not be objective based on his previous reluctance to give campaign donations to Eckstein, who ran for commissioner twice before being elected in 2011.

Eckstein stressed Lope, a former Democratic committeeman, refused to support him in the past despite belonging to the same political party.

“If I wasn’t worth a dollar then, I’m sure he thinks I’m worth even less now,” Eckstein said.

He has no opinion on Smith’s appointment.

“I don’t know her at all,” Eckstein said.

Hancher and Lope could not be reached for comment. Smith referred all questions to Gallagher.

Gallagher would not respond to Eckstein’s claim of a biased committee.

He said there is no specific timetable for the committee to complete its review.

“I asked them: the sooner the better,” Gallagher said.

When Eckstein raised the possibility of jury tampering, he criticized Doerr for pegging him as a security risk.

Doerr in late 2012 issued a court order for extra security in the commissioners office based on Eckstein’s conduct.

To accommodate the court order, sheriff’s deputies regularly patrol the fifth floor of the government center.

Eckstein asked why the three attorneys on the committee didn’t get involved when Doerr “slandered” him.

“Where were these three when Doerr was accusing me of a propensity of violence?” Eckstein asked.

Doerr declined to comment on Eckstein’s latest remarks.

Pinkerton and Commissioner Bill McCarrier on May 23 cut the two county jury commissioner posts, citing a financial savings to the county.

County court administration previously stated the office could absorb the duties of the jury commissioners, which entails selecting jury pools, without hiring additional staff.

Eckstein was absent from the May 23 meeting. He was attending a conference.