The Oregon Supreme Court Thursday upheld the decision to suspend Wasco County District Attorney Eric Nisley.
A panel from Oregon's Disciplinary Board initially ruled last year that Nisley had lied to Oregon State Bar investigators. They were looking into whether he had improperly investigated a county official. The state supreme court agreed that Nisley had lied.
“I understand the supreme court’s decision. I disagree with their conclusions,” Nisley said in a statement to OPB. “This moment does not define me with respect to who I am, what I do, or how I live my life.”
He said he is relieved “that this matter is concluded.”
The reason for Nisley’s suspension began in 2013, when then-Wasco County Finance Director Monica Morris made two loans to an intern out of the county’s petty cash fund. Nisley found out about the loans in 2014 and asked the state to investigate.
The Oregon Department of Justice declined to prosecute in the matter and Nisley began looking into the matter personally.
In May 2015, Wasco County’s attorney filed a complaint against Nisley with the Oregon State Bar, writing that Nisley’s investigation into the loans was improper. He also suggested the investigation was retaliation for a rebuffed romantic advance Nisley had with Morris in 2011.
Bar investigators eventually filed charges with the state’s Disciplinary Board. They alleged that Nisley’s investigation was retaliatory and that he’d lied about it to investigators in six instances.
The trial panel dismissed most of those charges, but it did find that Nisley lied when he told investigators that Morris was not the subject of a criminal investigation.
The panel ruled that Nisley be suspended for a month, but Nisley appealed the decision shortly after.
The Oregon Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday states Nisley will be suspended from practicing law for two months beginning in February.
