AMHERST — Lorain County Chief Probation Officer Bart Hobart was charged with domestic violence and disrupting public service Sunday following an argument with his wife, according to police.

Hobart’s wife, county Budget Director Lisa Hobart, called police at 2:23 a.m. and told a dispatcher that she and her husband were arguing and she feared it would escalate, Amherst police Lt. Joseph Kucirek said.

The phone line went dead during the call, Kucirek said, and when officers arrived at the couple’s North Woodhill Drive home, Lisa Hobart told them that Bart Hobart had grabbed the phone from her. Kucirek said there was some “arm grabbing” during the struggle for the phone, but Lisa Hobart had no visible injuries.

The couple told officers they had been drinking while they were out for the Ohio State University football game on Saturday, Kucirek said.

Bart Hobart, 50, was arrested because officers concluded he was the primary aggressor in the incident, Kucirek said. A temporary protection order was issued that bars Bart Hobart from having any contact with his wife, Kucirek said.

Bart Hobart was jailed and released on bond Monday after pleading not guilty at his arraignment in Oberlin Municipal Court, said his attorney Mike Duff. He must wear an alcohol-monitoring device while he is free, according to court records.

“It’s a misunderstanding,” Duff said. “It’ll be cleared up at Oberlin Municipal Court.”

Although domestic violence is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail, the disrupting public service charge is a felony that could be presented to a county grand jury depending on what happens at a preliminary hearing set for late December. If indicted and covicted on the felony charge, Bart Hobart could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison.

Bart Hobart, who took over as chief of the county Probation Department in 2005, wasn’t at work Monday but hasn’t been placed on leave, said Court Administrator Tim Lubbe.

That decision will rest in the hands of the county’s general division judges, who oversee the Probation Department, Lubbe said.

“We have to get the facts and review it,” he said.

Lisa Hobart declined to comment on the incident. Bart Hobart could not be reached for comment Monday.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

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