Charges dismissed against St. Paris police chief; had carried gun at county fair

The St. Paris Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

According to a previous statement from the sheriff’s office, on Aug. 4, Eric Smith of the St. Paris Police Department was openly carrying a firearm and his police badge while off duty and did not obey repeated orders to return his gun to his vehicle or leave the fair, including a direct order from the sheriff.

“At the time that Eric was carrying his firearm and his badge, he was not working in any capacity nor had any jurisdiction at the Champaign County Fair,” Sheriff’s Office staff had said.

St. Paris is a village of about 1,800 people, 12 miles west of Urbana.

The Sheriff’s Office located Smith at 6:19 p.m. in the rides/midway area of the fair. The Sheriff’s statement says Smith was told to return his gun to his car or leave the fair, but that Smith refused and said he was going to continue carrying his firearm while at the fair.

Smith was advised that it was a direct order from Champaign County Sheriff Matthew Melvin that if he “was not working as a law enforcement officer at the fair then his firearm needed to be returned to his vehicle.” The statement said he refused again.

When he was spotted a short time later continuing to openly carry his gun and badge, Smith was arrested and trespassed “for the remainder” of the fair, and transported to Tri County Regional Jail on counts of obstructing official business and criminal trespass, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

After the arrest, Jeffry Smith, an Ohio gun rights advocate who said he is no relation to Eric Smith, told Champaign County officials the arrest “flies in the face of established Ohio law” and “opens up the county to liability.” He argued most of Ohio’s county agricultural societies that run county fairs are “political subdivisions” and thus subject to Ohio law that permits people to carry firearms. He said that any “No Guns” signs at the entrances to the fair violate Ohio law.

A statement from the Champaign County Agricultural Society claimed that CCAS is a private entity operating the county fair on land that is privately owned and operated by the CCAS and their board.

“The CCAS believes that the county fair should remain a safe place free of weapons and firearms. Keeping this belief in mind, the CCAS has implemented a policy prohibiting the carrying of weapons or firearms on the fairgrounds during the week of the fair,” the Agricultural Society’s statement said. “Signs are conspicuously posted ... and the policy has worked well for many years without incident.”