Jim Eckstein

A former county commissioner will receive about one-third of the amount he sought for legal fees in a defamation suit against a former and current county official.

The county Wednesday ended a four-year lawsuit brought by former county Commissioner Jim Eckstein by agreeing to a settlement for Eckstein's legal fees in a 2012 suit, in which the late county Commissioner Dale Pinkerton and county human resources director Lori Altman sued Eckstein for defamation of character.

Without Eckstein present in the Common Pleas courtroom before visiting Judge Gerald Solomon, his attorney, Larry Rodgers, on Wednesday accepted a payment of $100,000 from the county to cover his client's legal expenses.

Eckstein had asked for more than $270,000 in the 2016 lawsuit he brought against the county for reimbursement of legal expenses.

The action on Wednesday was scheduled as a trial in which Solomon would have decided whether Eckstein was acting within the scope of his duties when he accrued the legal fees.

Had Solomon found Eckstein was acting within the scope of his duties as a commissioner, the award could have been the full $270,000 Eckstein was seeking.

But Rodgers confirmed to Solomon that accepting the $100,000 was Eckstein's intention.

In 2012, Pinkerton filed a defamation suit against Eckstein, and Altman and her husband, state Trooper Scott Altman, filed another defamation suit against him.

Eckstein was accused of starting and spreading a rumor there was a cover-up of Pinkerton not being charged for drunken driving after being pulled over in return for Lori Altman receiving an extra 20% pay hike in 2011.

The former commissioner also was accused of contacting the state Attorney General's office seeking an investigation into Pinkerton.

Investigations conducted by the state Attorney General's office and state police found no evidence of wrongdoing by Pinkerton and Scott Altman, respectively. The defamation case ended in 2016, when Eckstein paid Pinkerton and Altman $3,000 each.

Eckstein insisted at the time that the payments were not an admission of defamation, but rather a way to end his accumulation of legal fees.

Eckstein then filed a suit against the county for reimbursement of legal fees, which was the case settled on Wednesday.

Wil White, county solicitor, issued a statement from the current board of commissioners on the matter.

“It is time for our county and its current and former employees as well as residents whose lives were disrupted by previous actions to put this behind us,” the statement read. “Today, we are focusing on projects that improve services, the workplace, safety and the economy.”

The statement stressed that none of the current commissioners were involved with either case involving Eckstein.

White declined to comment after the meeting regarding whether the $100,000 would come from the taxpayer-funded county coffers or through the county's insurance company.