The Oregon State Bar has cleared Deschutes County District Attorney Patrick Flaherty of wrongdoing for calling a grand jury to investigate a public records release last year.

The State Professional Responsibility Board, a review panel for the Oregon State Bar, dismissed the ethics complaint against Flaherty on Saturday.

The complaint, filed in May 2011, alleged Flaherty was acting in his own self-interest by investigating Deschutes County Counsel Mark Pilliod over the release of personal information to The Bulletin in a public records request.

The anonymous complaint alleged the grand jury was being used to “settle a personal score” and that Flaherty should have referred the matter to outside counsel over the conflict of interest. A written summary of the complaint compiled by state bar staff and submitted to the review board recommended dismissal of the complaint.

“There is no clear authority that establishes a standard for when district attorneys must recuse themselves in Oregon grand jury proceedings at the risk of disciplinary action,” the summary said.

Oregon State Bar spokeswoman Kateri Walsh said the dismissal closes the state bar’s inquiry into Flaherty.

“We now have no open complaints or investigations regarding Flaherty,” Walsh wrote in an email.

Flaherty did not return messages seeking comment Thursday, but he did release a statement earlier in the day.

“This finally puts to rest baseless allegations that have been pending for almost a year and a half,” the statement said. “While I am grateful that the matter has concluded so favorably for me personally, I am aware that the extremely long wait for justice to occur has caused harm to the Office of District Attorney and those who work so hard in my office to uphold the law and the trust of the public.”

The statement goes on to say the District Attorney’s Office will continue to focus on its job of enforcing justice in the community.

Flaherty initiated the grand jury investigation in February 2011 after job applications for the position of deputy district attorney were released to The Bulletin without personal information redacted. Flaherty was investigating whether Pilliod knowingly released the information.

The inquiry ended a month later with Pilliod issuing a mea culpa and paying the county $100 to cover some of the costs of the investigation.

The Oregon State Police and the Washington County District Attorney’s Office later investigated Flaherty’s handling of the grand jury at the request of the Oregon attorney general. In March, the investigators said Flaherty did not commit any criminal wrongdoing in calling the grand jury.

Pilliod later alleged his reputation was damaged and he was denied the right to due process in a lawsuit he filed against Flaherty in January. According to the Oregon Judicial Information Network, that suit was dismissed in June.

Walsh said the state bar still has related complaints open.

“We do still have two complaints being investigated regarding Mr. Pilliod, in which the complainants are Flaherty, and Valerie Wright,” Walsh wrote in an email.

Flaherty filed the complaint alleging Pilliod had a conflict of interest during union negotiations involving prosecutors. Wright, a defense attorney and Flaherty’s wife, alleges Pilliod told a “blatant lie” during the grand jury investigation.

— Reporter: 541-617-7837 ehidle@bendbulletin.com