Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein’s office closed out October with a string of neighborhood and consumer actions, from a lawsuit against the operators of several east side bars to a $1 million settlement with two automakers over car thefts, according to the City Attorney’s Office’s October 2026 news recap.
The office’s Property Action Team filed a lawsuit against the operators of several east side bars that have been plagued by violence, according to the recap. The filing was reported by ABC6, 614NOW and 10TV, which described the businesses as illegal east-side bars with alleged illegal alcohol sales and a history of crime, according to the recap’s summary of that coverage.
The same team recently secured an order to shut down a north Columbus hotel due to crime and safety concerns, according to the City Attorney’s Office recap. Coverage summarized in the recap, from 614NOW, 10TV and NBC4, described the property as a nightmare for neighbors and reported it was shuttered over alleged crime and safety violations.
On the consumer side, Klein recently agreed to a settlement with major automakers in the city’s lawsuit over a spike in stolen vehicles in recent years, according to the recap. The settlement with Kia and Hyundai is $1 million, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s reporting summarized in the recap, with 10TV, ABC6 and NBC4 also reporting the agreement after what NBC4 described as soaring levels of thefts.
Klein also joined 10TV’s The Big Picture to discuss a lawsuit over federal attempts to undermine Medicaid coverage for sick and vulnerable Americans, according to the recap. That conversation put the city attorney’s office in a national policy fight at the same time it was pursuing the property and theft cases closer to home.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed from the City Attorney’s Office recap is the list of October actions themselves: the east-side bars lawsuit, the north-side hotel shutdown order, the $1 million Kia and Hyundai settlement, and the Medicaid lawsuit discussion. What the recap does not provide is a court schedule for the bars lawsuit, a reopening timeline for the hotel, or a breakdown of how the settlement money will be used — those details will come from the court filings and the office’s future updates.
The office also commemorated Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October with several events, including a community conversation and a City Hall lighting ceremony to call attention to the issue, according to the recap. The Columbus Dispatch and NBC4 covered officials addressing domestic violence in Columbus and Franklin County, and the office promoted a message from Klein urging the community to step up, under the line: “You can save someone’s life.”
The month’s work shows the two tracks the Property Action Team runs on: problem properties, where the office seeks court orders against bars and hotels it ties to violence and safety concerns, and the people affected around them, from neighbors living next to a troubled hotel to residents whose cars were swept up in the theft spike that produced the automaker settlement, according to the actions listed in the recap.
Columbus drivers are navigating a separate citywide disruption this weekend, as ODOT closed I-70 westbound downtown all weekend for bridge work, while on the sports side the Columbus Crew can clinch a playoff berth Saturday against D.C. United — a reminder that the city attorney’s docket is only one part of a busy Columbus weekend.
Klein’s office is taking questions directly this week. The recap invites residents to join a one-hour “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit at noon Wednesday on r/Columbus, whether the question is about one of the lawsuits, a follow-up on a problem property, or ideas for strengthening neighborhoods, according to the City Attorney’s Office.
The recap also noted a quieter stop on Klein’s October calendar: the annual Highland Youth Garden Fall Harvest Festival, where the city attorney joined a neighborhood celebration, according to the City Attorney’s Office. The office presented the festival visit alongside the lawsuits and settlements in the same recap, framing October as a month spent both in court and in the neighborhoods those court cases are meant to serve.
What happens next is that Wednesday session and the court process: the bars lawsuit and the hotel order move through the courts, and residents who want answers on either case — or on the settlement — have a scheduled, public chance to ask the city attorney himself at noon Wednesday.