In 2015, Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger ordered Retherford, R-Hamilton, to remove a liquor cabinet he was keeping in his office.
Retherford, 32, told the Journal-News that he bought the cabinet from a former legislator and was only storing it in his office until he had a chance to take it to his home.
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The incident became fodder for Retherford’s opponent during the March 2016 primary election.
Former state lawmaker Courtney Combs, who was challenging Retherford in the Republican primary, pounced on the incident, accusing Retherford of turning his district office into a frat house and coining the hashtag #StatehouseNotFratHouse in a Twitter battle with Retherford.
Ohio House rules prohibit the possession or consumption of alcohol in the Statehouse, a spokesman for Rosenberger told the Journal-News in 2016.
Retherford said he had kept two bottles of unopened wine from Hanover Winery in the liquor cabinet in an attempt to have it sold at the Statehouse Museum Shop. He also said he had kept an unopened bottle of bourbon that was a Christmas gift given to him and bottles of Hamilton water in the liquor cabinet.
