WARREN — One of Trumbull County’s newest elected officials has filed for bankruptcy ahead of her Jan. 6 start date.

Dawn Zinni, a Republican who unseated Tod Latell as county recorder in November’s election, submitted a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Dec. 21, according to court documents in the Northern District of Ohio’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Latell is a Democrat who held the county recorder position for two terms.

Zinni has a total of $961,909 in liabilities between nonpriority unsecured claims and creditors who have claims secured by property, according to the petition.

The petition shows that Zinni owes $500,535 to creditors with claims secured by property. A contingent claim, a debt that only becomes due if a specific event occurs in the future, of $165,000 to Amur Equipment and Simon PLC makes up the largest portion of the debt grouping. The claim is secured by several vehicles and a trailer.

The vehicles are not directly titled to her, however, but to her small trucking company, Buckeye Transport Group LLC, which dissolved June 9, 2024, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.

The company is listed as a codebtor for a majority of the claims.

“My failed trucking business has nothing to do with my ability to operate, manage, lead or direct an organization. That is exactly what this bankruptcy stems from — a business that could not sustain record fuel costs, a depressed economy, and inept administration at the helm of our pandemic stricken country and failed policies from health to energy, national sovereignty and more,” Zinni said via text in response to a voicemail message.

The remainder, $461,374 in non-priority unsecured claims, is made up of a $96,500 Workers’ Compensation Claim, $113,879 in contingent government debt, an auto loan and mechanical services. She also owes a mix of contingent and unmarked credit card debt to American Express, Synchrony Bank, several JPMorgan Chase Banks, Capital One and U.S. Bank.

Zinni listed pending collection cases with three of those companies, with two cases with American Express in Trumbull County District Court making up a majority of them.

Court records show the disposition of three of those cases as “dismissed without prejudice” as of Dec. 19 last year, and a similar action was taken with a fourth case against U.S. Bank in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Dec. 27.

Zinni owes money to 50 creditors, according to the creditor matrix portion of the petition. A notice of a meeting of creditors at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 28 via Zoom was submitted to them via physical or electronic communication, the petition states.

Zinni submitted a certificate of credit counseling, a course required before filing for bankruptcy from New Jersey-based 001 Debtorcc, Inc. However, a debt repayment plan was not prepared through that session conducted electronically..

Zinni’s case is being handled by John Zomoida, a Poland attorney specializing in bankruptcy law who also serves as the law director for the city of Struthers.