Whether Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley violated any state ethics laws by accepting VIP tickets to a concert for veterans that the county helped fund will go before the Ohio Ethics Commission.
The referral comes in a letter dated Sept. 23 from the Columbus Department of the Inspector General, which is looking into Crawley's complaint that she was unfairly treated by Columbus police at the concert. The Columbus inspector general is responsible for investigating allegations of police misconduct, not investigating elected officials. Meanwhile, the Ohio Ethics Commission is responsible for investigating allegations that a public official violated state ethics law.
Franklin County, via its Veterans Service Commission, gave $250,000 to the
Salute 250 concert on July 2 that was held at Historic Crew Stadium and featured Post Malone. Crawley voted with her fellow commissioners 3-0 on July 28, after the event, to approve the money for the event sponsorship and various other county purchase orders. The county's sponsorship allowed over 6,000 free tickets to be distributed to veterans and their families and provided the county with 18 tickets to use, Crawley previously said in a statement on Sept. 25.
Crawley, a U.S. Navy veteran, was the only commissioner who requested and received a handful of the county tickets, according to county spokesperson Molly Thrasher.
"No one at the county, including Commissioner Crawley, has received anything from the DIG at this point, nor have we even seen the file," Thrasher told The Dispatch on Sept. 29. "So we cannot comment on the contents at this point."
After 10TV first reported on the incident at the concert on Sept. 24, Crawley focused her Sept. 25 statement around how event security and Columbus police treated her and her guests, five Black women, who she said had proper credentials to be in a VIP space.
Crawley did not address the ethics of accepting the tickets in her lengthy statement. She said she attended the event in her official capacity as a commissioner and as a veteran.
Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a nonpartisan group that advocates for accountable government, said public officials offered gifts like tickets have to consider if they're getting special treatment.
"When an elected official is offered a gift, that elected official has to consider whether they're being given something that they're only receiving because of their public actions," Turcer said. "Meaning, are they getting special treatment? Is the special treatment related to decisions they've made or will make in the future? And that's where there is a conflict."
Turcer said the Ohio Ethics Commission will have to look at whether it was appropriate not just to accept a couple tickets, but five tickets.
"And was it appropriate to accept VIP tickets?" Turcer said. "A ticket to a concert is slightly different than the access you get with VIP tickets. Those are the types of things the public and the (ethics commission) will consider."
The letter sent by the Columbus Department of the Inspector General referring the possible ethics violation to the Ohio Ethics Commission details some of what city investigators have found in interviews. In an interview with the department, Crawley denied that the tickets and VIP wristbands, which came with access to a VIP lounge, were a gift. Crawley said she took her family members and some community partners.
Zach Ruben, the event producer, told the Department of the Inspector General that the Franklin County Veterans Service Commission was a sponsor of the event and stated, "Crawley advocated and participated in procuring that partnership on behalf of the county."
What Erica Crawley's annual financial disclosures show
Turcer said it's important that Ohio ethics law requires officeholders to file financial disclosures with the Ohio ethics commission but it's a shame those filings only occur once per year.
"Sometimes it's so far after the gift has been accepted that it's hard to poke at it too much or engage in a more public conversation," Turcer said.
It's also difficult to hold local elected officials accountable when there isn't much competition for their seat, Turcer said.
Crawley is up for reelection this November, but facing an uphill battle in a blue county, her Republican opponent dropped out of the race. There is a Libertarian candidate, Eric Terford, running.
On her available annual financial disclosures, Crawley has never before disclosed receiving a gift and has always checked the box indicating she had no gifts she's required to report.
From 2022 through 2025, the county has spent over $108,000 on Crawley's travel for conferences and business meetings, according to available financial disclosure forms.
That includes about $35,800 spent by Franklin County on Crawley's travel in 2025 on domestic and international trips. Last year, Crawley traveled to Italy to learn about the city's early childhood education framework and to Japan for the annual Japan-Midwest U.S. Association conference
For context, Franklin County's annual budget is over $2 billion. The other two county commissioners also regularly take business trips for the county.
A Franklin County commissioner's annual salary in 2026 is $118,407, as set by the state.
In 2024 and 2025, Crawley also reported she received income from the nonprofit Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence, where she was the executive director. On Sept. 24 of this year, the nonprofit announced that Crawley would leave the organization at the end of September after she submitted her resignation last month.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Erica Crawley’s VIP tickets to Post Malone concert face inquiry
