CLEVES, Ohio — The Village of Cleves is getting serious about code violations for junk cars and tall weeds, thanks to a newly reconstituted police department and mayor’s court, preparing to seek arrest warrants for recalcitrant owners.
Mayor Chuck Birkholtz said it's all about improving the town's quality of life, but some residents are concerned about the scope and necessity of the new enforcement measures.
“We have a police force,” said Kyle Smith, a Cleves resident who lost to Birkholtz in the 2023 mayor’s race and is suing the village for alleged violations of the Ohio Open Meetings Act. “We have Hamilton County. They’re doing a fantastic job. There’s absolutely no reason why we need a secondary police force in Cleves. There’s not enough crime.”
WATCH: How the town's administrator has reclaimed the title of top law enforcement official
Cleves disbanded its police department for budgetary reasons in 2020, opting to contract with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department for patrol services. Birkholtz tried to reverse the department’s demise with a lawsuit, then ran for mayor in 2023 to reform the village government.
But his efforts also proved controversial.
When Birkholtz chose Justin Habig to be village administrator last August, Smith and others cried foul. Habig was the interim police chief in Cleves when activists called for his firing in 2020, citing a “history of excessive force” when he worked in Elmwood Place.
“You’re talking about somebody who 1200 individuals signed a petition to have him removed from being a police officer,” Smith said. “That’s more people than voted for Chuck Birkholtz for mayor.”
Undeterred by critics, Birkholtz secured several unanimous votes from council to enact reforms:
- In September 2024, council funded the startup of a new mayor’s court.
- In December, it voted to “re-establish the local authority referred to as the police department.”
- In January, council voted to hire Habig as a part-time village marshal in charge of that new police department.
- In May, it voted to hire a part-time investigator who will look into criminal charges against property owners who ignore the village’s civil citations.
Habig told council in December that criminal citations could lead to arrest warrants if property owners fail to appear in mayor’s court.
“Not only would the sheriff's office have the ability to see that, but any law enforcement agency would,” Habig said. “So, if they were driving their vehicle down the road, and they had a warrant for arrest, they could be stopped. The vehicle could be impounded. They may have to pay a bond and be cited to a new court date.”
Along the way, some council members raised concerns.
“Are you gonna show up at somebody’s door with a gun on your hip that says, ‘Cut your grass?’ This is where I have some limitations on what it is you’re trying to establish here,” Gary Walters told Habig in a December 11, 2024 meeting.
“We can’t expect a peace officer to perform any duties when they’re not armed to defend themselves,” Habig responded.
The ordinance itself calls for the marshal to dress in business casual while carrying a firearm and being identified as “a certified peace officer in the state of Ohio.”
Walters reminded Habig, “You talked about putting vests on them with full body armor.”
Habig responded: “Just like you would wear a hard hat for a construction worker, I think that it’s reasonable that a peace officer would have ballistic armor.”
Smith’s attorney, Curt Hartman, said Ohio law allows a village administrator to simultaneously serve as the town’s marshal. But Hartman questions whether it’s good policy.
“You’ve got local administrators wearing multiple hats,” Hartman said. “When they’re out doing it, what hat are they wearing? Is he there as administrator? Is he there as law enforcement?”
Hartman represents Smith in a lawsuit alleging Cleves violated Ohio’s Open Meetings Act when it held an executive session to discuss a dispute between the village and Hamilton County’s Sheriff.
“The sheriff’s office was concerned, saying Justin Habig was on a Brady list,” said Hartman. “The mayor said he is not and never was. But that’s what he wanted to disclose to council in private as opposed to letting the citizens hear (what the county was saying about) their incoming administrator.”
The Brady list is a file kept by local prosecutors that tracks police officers whose honesty and integrity have been called into question. The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed last week that Habig has never been on the Brady list in Hamilton County.
Birkholtz told the WCPO 9 I-Team last August that Cleves did an extensive background check on Habig before hiring him. The I-Team has repeatedly requested copies of that report, but it has yet to be released. Hartman thinks it should be, now that Habig is back in charge of a police department.
“That’s for residents of Cleves to decide for themselves how concerned they are, but they’ve got to be informed,” Hartman said. “If that history in Elmwood Place hasn’t changed … the village of Cleves could find itself in federal court with a civil rights lawsuit.”
Hartman also thinks conflicts could develop with Hamilton County if future contract talks turn contentious or the new Cleves department interferes with the county’s role as lead law enforcement agency in the village.
“A marshal is a law enforcement officer and has power to arrest and is expected to enforce not only local ordinances but is expected to enforce all state laws,” Hartman said. “So, trying to carve out for the marshal himself what laws he will or will not (enforce) that’s going to be contrary to state law and that’s going to be contrary to his oath.”
Habig told council he has a good working relationship with the county. The ordinance reviving the Cleves department states it “will not act as the primary law enforcement authority” in the village. Instead, it will “collaborate closely” and foster “a cooperative and harmonious relationship between the two agencies.”
In the meantime, Cleves is preparing to ask its voters to pass a new property tax levy this November of up to 4.5 mills.
It would raise about $375,000 per year and cost the owner of a $100,000 home up to $158, according to information presented at village council’s June 25 meeting.
Birkholtz and Habig said the levy is needed to pay for a new fire and emergency services contract with Miami Township that will cost $2 million by 2029, along with a $722,000 contract for Hamilton County Sheriff patrols in the next three years.
In other public meetings, Habig has said the new police department will cost about $60,000 to operate, including startup costs for mayor’s court, a stipend for his services as marshal and the part-time investigator Cleves hired in May.
Smith thinks the levy is a first step toward expanding the Cleves department after its contract with the county expires in 2027.
“This all just seems like stepping-stones that the mayor’s taking to finalize his vision,” Smith said. “He wants to enforce basically a city-wide HOA.”
The I-Team tried to schedule interviews with Habig and Birkholtz, but neither would agree to talk on camera. Village attorney Rob Merkle released a statement that includes in part:
"Everything the Village Officials have done to right previous wrongs, fix chronic problems, be transparent, and be accessible has been at the highest level of integrity. The Administrator has worked tirelessly to create opportunity, progress, and enhance the Village so all residents and visitors benefit."
