TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio's Supreme Court says a township board broke the law when it replaced a board member on deployment with the Ohio National Guard.

The ruling issued Tuesday says the Spencer township leaders violated a law that says a township office can't be deemed vacant when an official is in active military service.

Spencer township board members called an emergency meeting at the end of last year to vacate the seat of the deployed trustee, Shawn Valentine, who in September was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

They then filled the seat with a board member who had lost his seat in November's election.

The state supreme court's ruling says that the trustee appointed to the seat should no longer be allowed to stay in the office.

The court also said Valentine is entitled to exercise the power of the office and said the board members should pay for the cost of the legal proceedings, according to  http://www.courtnewsohio.gov/.

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