10A « August 20, 2020 « T HE J OURNAL R ECORD « journalrecord.com L E G A L Ohio AG seeks to halt payouts in nuke plants’ bankruptcy BY JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s top lawyer has asked a federal court to temporarily halt payouts in a bankruptcy case involving the two nuclear plants caught up in a $60 million bribery and corruption probe. In a filing Monday, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost said the arrests of then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates in an alleged pay-to-play scheme surrounding a bill that bailed out the Energy Harbor plants “raises concerns t h at the Debtor may not have entered into the bankruptcy with c le an hands.” Energy Harbor is the former FirstEnergy Solutions, a one-time subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. The sub-company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, amid a mounting debt load exacerbated by the rise of competition from natural gas power in the East and Midwest. In a separate filing Monday, FirstEnergy made clear it is the government’s “Company A,” accused of helping underwrite a Householder- led scheme to seize back power last year in the House and using it to force passage of the bailout bill, House Bill 6. “We are unable to predict the outcome, duration, scope, result or related costs of the investigation and related litigation and, therefore, any of these risks could impact us significantly beyond expectations,” according to FirstEnergy’s quarterly report. “Moreover, we are unable to predict the potential for any additional investigations, litigation or regulatory actions, any of which could exacerbate these risks or expose us to potential criminal or civil liabilities, sanctions or other remedial measures.” The federal criminal complaint refers to Energy Harbor as “Company A-1.” In a third related development, Ohio Consumers Counsel Bruce Weston and NOPEC, a northeast Ohio nonprofit energy aggregator, have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to reopen the regulatory decision certifying a new FirstEnergy subsidiary, FirstEnergy Advisors, as a power broker and aggregator. The subsidiary also uses the name Su v on. Fraternal Order of Police elects Nelson president OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City Police Department Sgt. Mark Nelson has been elected presi - dent of t he Oklahoma St ate Fraternal Order of Polic e. Nelson previously served as the organization’s vice president. He is also vice president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 123. T he Oklahoma State Fraternal Order of Police comprises 80 lodges. –Sta ff report Bill allows videoconferencing court OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Nicole Miller , R-Edmond, was joined by representatives from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and the Okla - homa County Sheriff’s Of - fice as Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 3756 in a ceremony last week. HB 3756, authored by Miller, authorizes the use of videoconferencing technology in all stages of civil or criminal proceedings except in jury trials or trials before judges. “We started working on this legislation in September 2019 because videoconferencing seemed like a simple solu - tion to help save our criminal justice system both time and money, as well as maintaining public safety,” Miller said. “Of course, we never could have predicted how much more valuable and useful the bill would become. There couldn’t be a better time to offer vid - eoconferencing to Oklahoma’s district court system, which in turn impacts county jails and the Department of Corrections, and I appreciate the work done by its supporters to pass the legislation.” Miller said the idea was pro - posed to her by Frank Urbanic , a criminal defense attorney and constituent of House District 82. “What initially started as a way to allow an attorney to plead for his or her client with - out that client being physically present turned into a bill that brings our courts into the 21st century,” Urbanic said. “We’re only scratching the surface right now on the efficiencies produced by this legislation. Something we didn’t envision when we started working on this legislation was the impact a pandemic would have on our court system. This legislation assures every court in the future that video teleconferencing is authorized when there are pub - lic health concerns.” The Oklahoma Department of Corrections and the Okla - homa Sheriffs’ Association were among the groups supporting HB 3756. The pandemic forces us to open our minds to alternative methods to accomplish the task,” said DOC spokeswoman Jessica Brown “Rep. Miller’s House Bill 3756 has advanced the use of virtual hearings for sheriffs across the state,” said Ray McNair , who serves as executive director of OSA. “This will provide an im - measurable cost savings for the citizens in Oklahoma.” –Staff report Virtual webinars to focus on legal developments, regulations OKLAHOMA CITY – Crowe & Dunlevy’s Healthcare Practice Group has established a month - ly webinar series to update health care professionals of reg - ulatory developments and best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The free webinar series is for in-house attorneys as well as human resources, operations, finance, compliance and admin - istrative professionals who work in the health care field. Beginning Sept. 3 and con - tinuing monthly through the end of the year, the virtual we - binars will focus on the latest developments, trends and regu - lations in the health care in - dustry. Additional webinars are scheduled for the first Thursday of the month on Oct. 1, Nov. 5 and Dec. 3. The Sept. 3 webinar will examine health information developments, including Health Insurance Portability and Ac - countability Act revisions and enforcement activity, health information exchange develop - ments and recent regulations implementing the 21st Cen - tury Cures Act, which includes interoperability of health information. The webinar will be present - ed by Healthcare Practice Group attorneys Karen S. Rieger , Kevin D. Gordon and Maggie K. Martin The webinars are scheduled to begin at noon. Visit crowe - dunlevy.com/events to register. Registration for the webinars is free but participation is limited to the first 100 registrants. –Staff report LEGAL BRIEFS Mark Nelson Nicole Miller The entrance to FirstEnergy Corp.’s Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio. AP FILE PHOTO/RON SCHWANE