ASHLAND — Former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel and his ex-wife could end up in Ashland County Jail if they fail to comply with recently filed orders related to their divorce, court records show.
The couple’s case came before Ashland County Common Pleas Court Magistrate Paul Lange on April 25, when the magistrate found them both in contempt of court for violating parts of their dissolution agreement.
Lange threatened seven days of jail time at Ashland County Jail. The Mandels have four months to comply with Lange’s order. If they comply, they can apply to purge the contempt-of-court finding.
Mandel served eight years as the state’s treasurer, leaving that office in 2019. Before that, he served as a council member in Lyndhurst and two terms as a state representative in the 17th district.
He also made unsuccessful bids for U.S. Senator.
The details
He and his former wife, Ilana Mandel, filed for divorce in Ashland County Court of Common Pleas in April 2020. The marriage dissolved in June 2020. Neither of them live in Ashland County.
The two returned to court in May 2023 to rehash parental rights and responsibilities. Court records show a renegotiated agreement was filed in November 2023. But now, each side has said they’ve violated the agreement.
Some of the allegations include disagreements over responsibilities surrounding parenting time, their three children’s college savings accounts and soccer practice. They’ve each alleged the other has entered their home without permission.
Why Ashland?
The state’s Rules of Civil Procedure appear to allow any civil case to be tried in any Ohio county.
“Any action may be venued, commenced, and decided in any court in any county,” reads the state’s Rules of Civil Procedure.
Divorce proceedings, however, seem to require at least one of the spouses to have lived in the county in which the case was filed “for at least (90) days immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.”
It’s unclear if either of the Mandels lived in Ashland County for 90 days before the divorce was filed. The Mandels’ attorneys were not immediately available to comment.
Former Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ron Forsthoefel, a Republican, agreed to seal the couple’s divorce records in 2020.
Those records, now unsealed thanks to a successful lawsuit led by the Cincinnati Enquirer, reveal details about the couple’s income, property and the shared parenting plan.
Mandel, in February 2021, released redacted copies of his dissolution during his GOP primary bid for U.S. Senate.
Ultimately, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Forsthoefel had improperly agreed to seal the records in October 2022.
Forsthoefel announced he wouldn’t seek another four-year term in June 2021 ahead of a contested race, saying he was “done with politics.”