Washington County Sheriff Samuel F. Romano will face a hearing July 29 in Parsons, W.Va., after being arrested and jailed June 4 on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol. Although he said in a prepared statement that he will take responsibility for his actions, he said he would not resign from his job.

Police said at the time of his arrest, his blood-alcohol content was 0.231 -- nearly three times the legal limit to drive.

Mr. Romano, 43, of Canton, was arrested on the cusp of a new drunken driving law that took effect a week ago. If he is found guilty, he will have the option of using an alcohol ignition interlock system to get a reduced suspension of his driver's license.

The interlock device, which uses a breath analyzer to prevent a vehicle from being started if the user has consumed alcohol, could be installed on the county-owned vehicle that is assigned to Mr. Romano.

Mr. Romano, a former deputy sheriff who was elected to a four-year term as sheriff in 2005, called the incident "a poor error in judgment."

In a statement, Mr. Romano said he was vacationing in Elkins, W.Va., when he had a "few beers" while sightseeing.

Mr. Romano was arrested about 5:15 p.m. June 4 by the Tucker County, W.Va., sheriff's department.

Tucker County 911 communications center received a phone call about a black, four-door Mercedes with an out-of-state license plate that was driving erratically on Route 72 about three miles from Parsons, according to Tucker County Sheriff Tom Felton. Parsons is about 110 miles south of Washington.

Mr. Felton said a deputy sheriff located the vehicle, registered to Mr. Romano's fiancee, Angela Conner, a registered nurse who was a passenger in the car.

Mr. Felton said the deputy observed the car cross the center line of the road twice, then stopped Mr. Romano, who failed field sobriety tests.

Mr. Felton said the deputy noted that Mr. Romano's eyes were "bloodshot and glassy" and that there was "an unsteadiness to his gait."

An Intoximeter test -- similar to a Breathalyzer -- indicated Mr. Romano's blood alcohol content was 0.231. As in Pennsylvania, the legal limit for driving in West Virginia is 0.08.

He was charged with driving under the influence and a summary offense of driving left of the center line.

In his statement, Mr. Romano said, "By no means, do I feel that I am above the law in this or any other matter, nor did I ask for or was treated as such. However, as your sheriff, I plan to move forward and continue to lead this county in the most professional manner as I have in the previous 29 months."

The sheriff did not return phone calls to his office or cell phone last week.

Although few local officials or political observers were willing to comment about Mr. Romano's arrest, several expressed shock at his blood-alcohol content at the time of his arrest.

Information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2005 and 2006 indicates that about 86 percent of fatal accidents involving drunken drivers are caused by drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 or higher.

Mr. Felton said Mr. Romano was cooperative during the arrest, after which he was placed in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail overnight and released at 9:30 a.m. June 5.

He was arraigned by video from the jail by Tucker County Magistrate Riley Barb, who said Mr. Romano did not enter a plea, so a not guilty plea was lodged on his behalf.

Mr. Romano will be required to return July 29 to Parsons, the Tucker County seat, to appear again before Mr. Barb. At that time, he will be expected to enter a plea and decide whether to use the interlock device.

According to a directive sent to local magistrates from the West Virginia state Supreme Court, defendants with a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.15 who were charged with DUI before June 8 can opt to be punished under the new aggravated drunken driving law, which requires ignition interlocks.

The law gives first-time offenders the option of a 90-day driver's license revocation or a 15-day revocation if they opt to use the ignition interlock for four months. A cooperative agreement between the states ensures that Pennsylvania drivers have that option.

The new law calls for a mandatory two days to six months in jail for drivers with a blood-alcohol content higher than 0.15.

Scott Fergus, Washington County director of administration, said the county does not oversee the sheriff's department, an independent office charged with serving arrest warrants, conducting real estate tax sales, providing county courthouse security and other duties.

Even if Mr. Romano had been driving a county vehicle, Mr. Fergus said, the county would be powerless to terminate his employment. Mr. Romano has an unmarked county-owned vehicle for daytime work and for personal use after hours.

"There's nothing that we could have done about it," he said.

Under state law, sheriffs and other county officials can be removed from office by the governor for an "infamous crime," usually interpreted as a felony, such as perjury or misappropriation of funds.

A first-time DUI offense qualifies as a misdemeanor charge.

County commissioners J. Bracken Burns and Larry Maggi, the county's former sheriff, declined to comment. Commissioner Diana Irey said she's glad Mr. Romano will take responsibility for his actions.

"Everybody makes mistakes," Mrs. Irey said. "I'm sure he'll be held accountable."

Mr. Romano is not the first Washington County official to have legal problems.

Sheriff James Fazzoni was indicted in 1993 in a job-selling scandal at the sheriff's office. He killed himself on the morning he was to plead guilty.

During the same time period, two county district attorneys were indicted by the federal government, and former District Attorney John C. Pettit, who was defeated last year, remains under investigation by a federal grand jury for possible case-fixing and abuse of office.

First Published: June 15, 2008, 8:00 a.m.