<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1feTSq_1H23QIoM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1feTSq_1H23QIoM00" width="1280" height="720" ><figcaption>Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Michael Ciccone is pushing back against criticism of his department, saying he has no reason to resign. Ciccone made the remarks after a budget hearing, where county commissioners declined to approve his request for next year, because of accounting issues. He told Ally Ross, that not only will he NOT step down, he also intends to run for reelection.</figcaption></figure>Embattled Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Michael P. Ciccone, in his first on-camera interview regarding the numerous criticisms and calls for him to step down from office he has faced, rebuffed his critics and stated his intentions to run for office again.“I have done nothing wrong in my in this office to warrant that, so talks of this resignation is frankly a bunch of bulls**t, and I won't — no, I will not resign,” Ciccone said. “I was duly elected by over 54,000 people of Mahoning County.”Ciccone made the remarks following a budget hearing with the Mahoning County Commissioners in which his office requested a 15.5% overall budget increase for 2027, for a total of $5.6 million. Much of the increase came from employee payroll, though rent and utilities payments also went up, which Ciccone said is due to inflation.Commissioner Geno DiFabio told 21 News that nothing Ciccone requested appeared to be abnormal or inappropriate, but nonetheless commissioners turned it away. DiFabio said the office needed to do some “better accounting” and come back.“Where their people are, and how they're being paid out of which fund … there may be certain people that are coming out of the wrong budget,” DiFabio said. “It's more of the same with this office. I'm sorry to say that the processes and the accounting isn't always up to par, but we're working on that all across the county, especially at the clerk's office.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3ok1NA_1H23QIoM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ok1NA_1H23QIoM00" width="1920" height="1080" ><figcaption>WATCH: 21 News reporter Ally Ross’ full interview with Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Michael Ciccone. November 12, 2026.</figcaption></figure>DiFabio, who has previously said he needed to see the clerk of courts’ office straighten things out before he would consider giving it more money, told 21 News Thursday he believes “we’re getting closer.”“This is the people's money we're dealing with, and I'm not prepared, my colleagues aren't prepared, to just to write checks,” he said. “You’ve got to justify it to us. At the end of the day, the three of us are accountable to the people.”Among the issues the clerk’s office has faced this year were the 14 unpaid utility bills at several of Mahoning County’s courthouses. Ciccone described the situation as a “colossal” human error and said it has been “taken care of.”“It really perplexes me as to why our office pays the utility bills for those court locations,” Ciccone said. “I'm not the signatory to the leases on them. … We spoke [with the county] and that's more of an administrative task that will be handled by the court administration, not the clerk's office, because our offices are not just for the clerk.”Not only will Ciccone not step down, but he also “absolutely” intends to run for reelection when his term is up in 2028.“The office that I have now, it's much better than it was when I — with what I inherited,” Ciccone said. “Absolutely.”“I was elected with nobody's money,” he went on to say. “And obviously, when you don't take people's money, you're not owned by anyone. I'm not owned by anyone. … I don't play the political backdoor deals. I'm here to do the job that I was elected to do. That's what I do every day.”</div></body>

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Embattled Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Michael P. Ciccone, in his first on-camera interview regarding the numerous criticisms and calls for him to step down from office he has faced, rebuffed his critics and stated his intentions to run for office again. “I have done nothing wrong in my in...

Ciccone will ‘absolutely’ run for reelection: ‘I have done nothing wrong’

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Embattled Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Michael P. Ciccone, in his first on-camera interview regarding the numerous criticisms and calls for him to step 

Ciccone will ‘absolutely’ run for reelection: ‘I have done nothing wrong’

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