ASHLAND — A longtime deputy at the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) who was convicted recently of dereliction of duty has resigned.
Cindy Benner, a 30-year employee at the sheriff’s office, submitted a one-sentence letter of resignation on Feb. 1, a public records request with the sheriff’s office has revealed.
“Please be advised that I retire and resign my employment with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office effective March 1, 2024,” she wrote.
A photo of Cindy Benner from 2020. This image has been cropped to exclude other individuals Benner was with in this photo that are not related to this story.
Her retirement comes a year after Benner was demoted from an enforcement sergeant to deputy and reassigned to the jail. The sheriff’s office made that move based on allegations that sparked an internal investigation back in January 2023.
She was charged on four counts of dereliction of duty on March 2, 2023.
By October, Benner was convicted on one count of dereliction of duty after a three-day jury trial at Ashland Municipal Court. The conviction stems from a Nov. 8, 2022, incident in which Benner waited to respond to an urgent backup call from another officer.
She originally faced four counts; two of them were dismissed and the jury found her not guilty on another.
Municipal Judge John Good sentenced her to 80 hours of community work service, to be completed by March 1 and a $500 fine.
Benner’s appeal
Court records show Benner’s attorney, Cassandra Mayer, filed an appeal with the fifth district court of appeals on Oct. 31.
Mayer has requested a transcript of the municipal court trial and has until Feb. 20 to file what’s called a “merit brief,” a document that outlines her client’s reasoning for an appeal, according to court records.
Despite the conviction, Benner held her job at the sheriff’s office and received no disciplinary action until last month, when she was placed on a 30-day suspension, said ACSO Chief Deputy Dave Blake.
He said Benner became eligible for a 30-day suspension back in January of 2023, when she was demoted. It never came because an arbitrator from the Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association (OPBA) wanted to review the case.
When the case went to trial, Benner’s suspension was delayed, Blake said.
“(OPBA) wanted to appeal the decision of our discipline (back in January 2023). And then when criminal charges came, they wanted to wait for that to finish,” he said.
“And when it all wrapped up in October, I asked (OPBA) about it and they never got back to us. So I decided to close the books on this disciplinary thing and implemented a 30-day suspension in January,” Blake said.
During Benner’s suspension, she announced her resignation.
Blake said he was surprised by the resignation.
“I anticipated her coming back,” he said. “We had no issues with her performance at the jail.”