MAHONING COUNTY, Ohio - In a new effort to move out of their current building, the Mahoning County Board of Elections is looking to hire an attorney for legal advice. 

By a vote of 3-1, the board voted yes to getting the outside legal advice on what actions they could take against county commissioners if they don't help them find a suitable building. 

But in a bit of irony, paying for that hire would need to be approved by the county commissioners.

This is because an outside attorney would be paid for in tax dollars, meaning the commissioners need to approve it. 

Those on the board say there's been breaking pipes, concerns with parking and the buildings water is not drinkable at the Oakhill office, making it difficult to stay in compliance with the Secretary of State.

“My fear is there's going to be a catastrophic building failure near an election time that's really going to compromise us, and we've been dragging our feet on getting a building,” said Dave Betras, chairman of the Mahoning County Board of Elections.

He pointed to all the regulations the state has for election centers.

“We have to have security systems, fire suppression systems. We have to have the drop box under constant surveillance. We have to be able to drive up voting for handicapped people. So there's a lot of things we have to do,” said Betras.

Normally, the county prosecutor would serve as the attorney for the board, but since that office also represents the commissioners, an outside attorney would need to be hired to avoid conflict. 

Betras said even if the commissioners do not approve of an outside attorney, he will take other avenues to get it approved

“The fact that they are not doing their job means that we as an independent board are going to do our job, and we are going to seek every legal remedy available to us to ensure that we're doing our jobs properly,” said Betras. “They keep telling us that they have a building for us, but yet they've not included us in any of the plans. They've not asked the director or assistant director what our needs are, and that's not how you do business.”

Mahoning County commissioner Geno DiFabio said the commissioners have not talked about the request yet.

“We’re focused on having constructive conversations with the Board of Elections to find a solution that meets everyone’s need,” said DiFabio.

Commissioners Anthony Traficanti and Carol Rimedio-Righetti did not comment.