SHADYSIDE — Former Mayoral candidate Greg Givens currently sits in the Belmont County Jail due to knowingly providing falsification relating to an election proceeding.

Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan said that when Givens filed to run for Mayor he put his home address as an address that he had once lived at but has long since been out of the property.

“We don’t know where he was living. We simply know that he was not living at the address that he had listed on his petition,” Flanagan said.

Givens was on the mayoral ballot in 2021 where he was defeated by incumbent Robert Newhart. He attempted to run again in 2025 but was not on the ballot.

According to Ohio Revised Code section 3599.36, no person, either orally or in writing, on oath lawfully administered, or in a statement made under penalty of election falsification, shall knowingly state a falsehood as to a material matter relating to an election in a proceeding before a court, tribunal or election official, or in a matter in relation to which an oath or statement under penalty of election falsification is authorized by law, including a statement required for verifying or filing any declaration of candidacy, declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, nominating petition, or other petition presented to or filed with the secretary of state, a board of elections, or any other public office for the purpose of becoming a candidate for any elective office, including the office of a political party, for the purpose of submitting a question or issue to the electors at an election, or for the purpose of forming a political party.

If convicted Givens could receive a felony of the fifth degree which could include between 6 and 12 months in jail and $2,500 in fines.