COLUMBUS — Former Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis was sentenced Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, to 30 months in prison after admitting his role in a public-contracting kickback scheme tied to the Southern Ohio Port Authority and a Portsmouth-area business park, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.
Davis was also ordered to pay about $68,000 in restitution. He pleaded guilty in July in Scioto County Common Pleas Court to felony counts of theft in office, receiving stolen property, and filing an incomplete or false tax return.
“Ultimately, you can never repay the public for that breach of trust,” Faber said. “But certainly this sentence is appropriate under the circumstances. If you lie, cheat and steal, the Auditor of State’s Office is going to find you, we’re going to use the tools at our disposal to prosecute you, and we’re going to see that you’re held accountable.”
Key points in the case
• The Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit opened the case after a complaint alleged an unlawful interest in a public contract between the Southern Ohio Port Authority and an out-of-state company for a building at the Southern Ohio Aeronautical Regional (SOAR) Business Park, next to Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport.
• Investigators concluded Robert Horton, who headed the Southern Ohio Port Authority and the Scioto County Economic Development Department, received kickbacks for securing that public contract.
• Davis used his position as county commissioner to help secure the contract and the public funding tied to it, according to the auditor’s office.
• Davis, his wife, Horton, Horton’s wife, and two others were indicted in 2025.
• With this conviction, Davis is barred from holding public office or public positions in the future.
• As part of Wednesday’s sentence, he must repay Scioto County any salary he received as commissioner during his suspension and forfeit government contributions made to his pension.
• His wife, Lorinda Davis, pleaded guilty to one felony count of tampering with evidence and was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months of community control.
• Criminal cases against Horton and his wife remain pending in Scioto County Common Pleas Court.
• Attorneys from the Special Investigations Unit were appointed by the Scioto County prosecutor to serve as special prosecutors.
The Special Investigations Unit says it has assisted in 170 convictions since 2019, with more than $17.9 million in restitution. Tips of suspected public fraud can be submitted anonymously online or through the unit’s hotline at 866-FRAUD-OH (866-372-8364).
Hopewell Heritage Headlines takes theft in office seriously and covers these cases often. If you have a tip about public officials misusing money or power, please submit it.
