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Former Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis sentenced to prison time after pleading guilty in a kickback scheme

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOUB) — A former Scioto County commissioner was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday after he admitted involvement in a kickback scheme involving the Southern Ohio Port Authority and a Portsmouth-area business park.

Bryan Davis also was ordered to pay about $68,000 in restitution, according to Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, after pleading guilty in July to felony counts of theft in office, receiving stolen property and filing an incomplete/false tax return.

“Ultimately, you can never repay the public for that breach of trust,” Faber said in a press release. “But certainly this sentence is appropriate under the circumstances.”

Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis poses for a portrait outside.
Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis [Scioto County Commission]
Davis and wife and two others were indicted in 2025 following an investigation by the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) based on a complaint alleging a potential 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, adjacent to the Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport.

Criminal cases against Robert Horton, who headed the Southern Ohio Port Authority and the Scioto County Economic Development Department, and his wife are pending in Scioto County Common Pleas Court.

SIU determined that Horton received kickbacks for securing a public contract for construction at the SOAR Business Park, and Davis used his position as county commissioner to secure the contract and public funding involved, among other alleged crimes.

With his conviction, Davis is barred from holding public offices or positions in the future.

As part of his sentence Wednesday, he will have to repay the county for any salary he received as county commissioner during his suspension, and he will forfeit any government contributions that were made to his pension.

His wife, Lorinda Davis, pleaded guilty to a single felony count of tampering with evidence. She was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months of community control.

Attorneys from SIU were appointed by the Scioto County Prosecutor to serve as special prosecutor in the case.

Since 2019, the Special Investigations Unit has assisted in 170 convictions resulting in more than $17.9 million in restitution (see Map of SIU Convictions since January 2019). The team receives hundreds of tips of suspected fraud annually. Tips can be submitted anonymously online or via SIU’s fraud hotline at 866-FRAUD-OH (866-372-8364).