The Office Of The Legislative Inspector General
The Office Of The Legislative Inspector General (OLIG) is the administrative office of the Ohio General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Ethics Committee (JLEC). The OLIG is a non-partisan office with two primary duties: (1) it is the ethics advisory office for Ohio’s legislative branch of government; and (2) it is in charge of overseeing all state level lobbying efforts.
Relative to ethics, the OLIG seeks to provide legal advice and guidance to Ohio General Assembly members and legislative employees so as to prevent ethics violations. Relative to lobbying, the OLIG is responsible for lobbying compliance relative to attempts to influence legislation, executive agency decisions, and the investment decisions of the state’s retirement systems. In this respect, the OLIG’s focus is to work with the more than 1,500 registered Ohio lobbyists to ensure a transparent and lawful lobbying process.
The OLIG is headed by Executive Director/Legislative Inspector General, Tony Bledsoe. Director Bledsoe was appointed Legislative Inspector General in 2004 following a three year tenure as JLEC’s chief legal counsel. Prior to JLEC, Bledsoe served as a securities attorney with the Ohio Department of Commerce; he also has experience in the areas of election and campaign finance law. Bledsoe is a graduate of Youngstown State University and The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law; he is a member of the Council On Government Ethics Laws and the Ohio Investigators Association.
| OLIG Staff | |
| Executive Director | Tony Bledsoe |
| General Counsel | Jennifer Lockwood |
| Lobbying Compliance Coordinator | Jason Hastings |
| Lobbying Education & Outreach Specialist | Robin Hurst |
| Legal Support Specialist | Sharon Clark |