Former Butler County Commissioner Jim Eckstein is suing the county to recoup $144,788 in legal costs he incurred in a defamation case.

The civil complaint filed Wednesday in county court names the county and the three current commissioners Leslie Osche, Kim Geyer and Kevin Boozel as defendants.

“It's disappointing,” said Osche, board chairman.

Eckstein said the county is obligated to reimburse his legal costs because he was acting in his role as a commissioner.

“I'm supposed to be indemnified,” he said.

The complaint also asks for further “relief” deemed appropriate by the court.

Eckstein, who served from 2012 through 2015, was sued by former county Commissioner Dale Pinkerton and two other plaintiffs — county human resources director Lori Altman and her husband, state Trooper Scott Altman — for defamation and being placed in a false light.

Pinkerton also sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Eckstein maintains he did not defame anyone.

“I didn't do it,” he said. “I'm innocent.”

Eckstein was accused of spreading a rumor that Pinkerton traded Lori Altman an extra 20 percent pay hike in 2011 in exchange for getting out of a drunken driving stop.

The state attorney general's office and state police found no evidence of wrongdoing in separate investigations.

Eckstein said he only told people there was an attorney general's office investigation occurring, not that anyone was guilty of corruption.

His lawsuit against the county hinges partly on whether he was acting in his role as a commissioner in discussing the matter with others.

Eckstein said if the county argues he was not acting as a commissioner, it would not be a defensible stance.

“It's my duty not to tell anybody about it?” he asked rhetorically about the investigation.

Pinkerton filed his complaint in April 2012. The Altmans filed theirs later that month.

Eckstein said it is not his fault the legal expenses were incurred.

“I didn't sue anybody,” he said.

The two lawsuits were subsequently consolidated into one case.

Eckstein in May 2012 requested the county indemnify him and cover his legal costs, but his fellow board members, Pinkerton and Bill McCarrier, did not act on the request. McCarrier said at the time he was the only commissioner not involved in the case, so the court would resolve the entire issue.

After four years of legal wrangling, the case went to trial in April of this year.

The trial lasted two weeks. The final day ended in a mistrial. The plaintiffs filed for a new trial, which was scheduled for September.

Before jury selection began, Eckstein accepted offers by the plaintiffs to discontinue their lawsuits. He paid each set of plaintiffs $3,000.

Eckstein stressed he was not found liable, so the county cannot deny his request for repayment.

“The law's not written that way,” he said.

Eckstein requested indemnification again on Oct. 31.

According to his complaint, county solicitor Mike English verbally denied the request. A Dec. 7 e-mail then confirmed the denial.

English declined to answer questions about the lawsuit.

“I have no comment,” he said.

The complaint claims Eckstein is entitled to be indemnified under state law.

According to the complaint, “He (Eckstein) was a sitting county commissioner and his actions were protected.”

The complaint points to testimony during the April trial as proof Eckstein was acting as a commissioner in any discussions relayed during the trial.

According to the complaint, “His testimony was not rebutted or contradicted.”

The complaint states there was no court determination that any of Eckstein's acts constituted actual malice or willful misconduct.

According to the complaint, “The defendants as county commissioners by statute have a ministerial duty required by law to reimburse plaintiff Eckstein for all costs, attorney fees and damages, including interest.”

Eckstein is confident he will be reimbursed at some level of the court system.

“It's a really good case,” he said.

Eckstein said what happened to him sets a bad precedent, deterring people from running for political office.