CADIZ — A legal filing against village Mayor R. Kevin Jones alleging that he used a racial slur at an event in August at Sally Buffalo Park has been dismissed.

Councilman Salvatore DeLuca filed the complaint Sept. 23, alleging Jones had used a racial slur. The complaint found Jones in Harrison County Probate Division’s Court of Common Pleas on Monday morning.

The complaint called for Jones to be removed from his official position as mayor. It alleged that his words showed a lapse in judgment that called his ability to do the job into question.

Due to the nature of the matter, an outside judge was brought in to oversee the matter. The Ohio Supreme Court assigned Judge John S, Campbell of Carroll County.

Campbell reviewed the official complaint and then said such complaints require specific statutory language, and he found that the complaint filed by DeLuca did not meet the statutory requirements.

“Consequently for the court to have jurisdiction that (language) would have to be there and it is not, so the court’s going to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction,” Campbell said. “Dismissal will be effective when I file the entry and my guess is it’ll be a little bit of time for me to do that but it will be within the next 30 days.”

Jones’ lawyer, Kevin Butler of the McDonald Hopkins Law Firm, made a statement following the decision.

“We are pleased that the judge dismissed the case today on a procedural issue,” Butler said.

Jones followed by saying that he is glad that the village can put the issue behind it and begin to work together.

“Now we can work together to move forward for our village, which our community really deserves,” Jones said.