Disgraced state lawmaker Steven Kraus of Sandusky, who won a legal victory last week with the assignment of a new judge in his theft conviction appeal, is now fighting to delay the revocation of his auctioneer and real estate licenses.

The state Department of Agriculture Friday rejected his appeal to delay a hearing planned for May 23 by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which holds his auctioneer license.

Kraus is undertaking a petition drive to build support to postpone a decision on his auctioneer’s license while his appeals are pending.

In an outreach to social media, Kraus tried to build public pressure for Attorney General Mike DeWine to take a “wait and see” approach on the hearing while motions for a new trial are pending in Ottawa County.

On Wednesday, Mr. DeWine filed a motion recommending the continuance request be denied.

“No such motions have been granted and the pending motions have no impact on the validity of the conviction that has already been affirmed,” the attorney general’s filing states.

Mr. DeWine also said that, with his conviction, Kraus would be ineligible to renew his auctioneer’s license.

Agriculture department spokesman Brett Gates said Kraus’s two-year license was renewed for July 1, 2016, because the conviction was still stayed. However, the conviction was affirmed by the appeals court in December.

Kraus’s real estate license is held by the Ohio Department of Commerce, which has not scheduled a hearing on whether it should be revoked.

Kraus, 57, a Republican, was elected in November, 2014, to represent the 89th House District, made up of Erie and Ottawa counties, defeating incumbent Democratic state Rep. Chris Redfern of Catawba Island.

He was convicted in July, 2015, of taking antiques in April, 2014, from a Danbury Township home without the owner’s permission. He was sentenced to two years of probation and removed from office.

Kraus’s criminal conviction was upheld by the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals in December. In April, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court threw out Kraus’ challenge to his removal.

However, Kraus has filed motions for a new trial in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court, claiming he uncovered new evidence, in emails he obtained through a public-records request, that his prosecution was a “political hit job.”

In the last two weeks, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor removed the judge previously assigned to the case, Dale Crawford, a visiting judge from Franklin County, and appointed Judge Patricia Ann Cosgrove, a visiting judge from Summit County.

Justice O’Connor did not find any misconduct by Judge Crawford but said, “Even in cases where no evidence of actual bias or prejudice is apparent, a judge’s disqualification may be appropriate to avoid an appearance of impropriety.”

Kraus claims there was collusion between the judge, Mr. Redfern, and former Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan. He contends the new information is evidence of “selective prosecution” that was not available to him at trial.

Mr. Mulligan has called the claims “ridiculous.”

Judge Crawford has acknowledged he met numerous times with Mr. Redfern, but they never discussed the Kraus case.

Kraus also claimed Judge Crawford refused to accept mailed filings from him at his home and delayed ruling on his motions. Justice O’Connor accepted Judge Crawford’s explanations that it was not normal procedure for a judge to accept legal filings at his home and that Ottawa County had failed to forward the pending motions to him.

Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published May 13, 2017, 4:00 a.m.