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Ric Holt, ex-wife get restraining orders The two trade charges of violence against each other and alcohol abuse By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Jackson County Commissioner Ric Holt and his ex-wife have been granted restraining orders against each other amid charges of alcoholism, gun play and physical violence alleged by both parties. Ric Holt and his ex-wife, Francine Holt, have been living together off and on in Ric Holt's rural Ashland home. The pair, who have been married and divorced twice, claim repeated physical abuse against each other in the past six months - usually after drinking alcohol, court papers allege. Though he sought and received his restraining order three days before she did, Ric Holt said Monday that most of his ex-wife's allegations are false attempts to sway voters against him in his current re-election bid. "Getting a restraining order was the only way I could keep her out of the house," Ric Holt said. "Her restraining order is politically motivated. Mine was self-preservation." Francine Holt could not be located for comment. In an affidavit filed April 5 in a Jackson County Circuit Court, Francine Holt claims the commissioner abuses alcohol and prescription pain-relievers and has randomly fired a gun outside his rural home. She alleges he keeps the gun in his briefcase, under his car seat or beneath his mattress. She also claims in the affidavit that the three-time Republican commissioner recently has choked her, pulled her down a hallway by her hair and forced her to have sex with him. In a Monday interview, Ric Holt denied ever assaulting or choking Francine Holt, but acknowledged shooting his guns off the porch of his rural home. Holt also said he regularly drinks, but not daily, and that he probably has mixed prescription painkillers with alcohol. "I have one or two pops a night," Holt said. "I've never had a ticket, I've never been to jail. I've tried to lead a good life." In his affidavit, Ric Holt paints his ex-wife as an abusive alcoholic. In the affidavit, he alleges she has hit and kicked him while she was intoxicated and once pointed his handgun at his face. Ric Holt, who is seeking the Republican nomination for a fourth term, also claims that Francine Holt threatened to give his political opponents damaging information about him to ruin his political career. "It will put questions in people's minds," Holt said of the allegations. "The ones who want my job are certainly going to use it, make hay with it." The pair have had several court papers served on each other during their two divorces, and sheriff's deputies have been called to Holt's Neil Creek Road home eight times in the past five years - mostly for complaints Ric Holt has made against Francine Holt, Jackson County Sheriff Bob Kennedy said. "I can't begin to tell you the number of legal documents the two of them have served against each other," Kennedy said. Kennedy said he doesn't believe Holt's marital strife is relevant to his fitness for public office or his effectiveness as a commissioner. "It doesn't speak to his ability as a commissioner," Kennedy said. "The whole situation is emotional, and we all know what emotions will do to us." Don Laws, a Southern Oregon University political-science professor, said the restraining order revelations likely will harm Holt in the voters' eyes, but how much trouble the allegations could bring is unclear. "Conservatives will see this as living together and not being married," Laws said. "Liberals will see abuse between spouses. And everybody's going to see drugs and alcohol. "All of this will play against him." In the orders, both Holts are banned from any kind of contact and must stay 500 feet away from each other. The orders, signed by Circuit Court Judge Mark Schiveley, will remain in effect for as long as a year. Ric Holt said he does not plan to contest his ex-wife's claims in a court hearing. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.