Governor removes Dubois County sheriff from Indiana law enforcement board after failed settlement - KPCNews

A divided Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board on Monday rejected a proposed settlement that would have allowed embattled Dubois County Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter to remain certified as a law enforcement officer until 2027, instead sending the case back for further review amid sharp criticism from current and former law enforcement leaders. Hours after the vote, Gov. Mike Braun announced he had removed Kleinhelter from the board. “Following the recommendation of Superintendent Anthony Scott, Chair of the Law Enforcement Training Board, and in light of a failed settlement agreement, I am removing Tom Kleinhelter from the board,” Braun said in a statement released Monday afternoon. Kleinhelter, who was appointed to the training board by former Gov. Eric Holcomb, had also been a member of the board’s decertification subcommittee reviewing his own case. The 9-4 vote came after nearly an hour of debate over whether to accept a negotiated agreement that would have required Kleinhelter to immediately resign from the training board but delay surrendering his law enforcement certification until Jan. 1, 2027. Three of the four votes in favor owe have full-time jobs that are governor appointments. Indiana State Police Superintendent Anthony Scott, who voted in favor of the deal, said afterward that while board members differed on timing, they largely agreed on the outcome. “It would have been nice if he resigned, like most people do when they find themselves in those scenarios,” Scott told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “But, in principle, we all want the same thing, right? We all want him removed from the board, and we want him decertified,” he continued. “I understand the opposition. They want it done quicker — and I would like that, too.” Kleinhelter still sits as Dubois County sheriff and continues to retain his law enforcement credentials, however. A decertification request is still pending before the training board. With a felony charge pending in Marion County, Kleinhelter can not legally carry a firearm. The sheriff — who faces multiple pending criminal charges in Marion County tied to allegations he lied during a state police investigation — did not attend Monday’s meeting at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield. Neither he nor his attorney, Jim Voyles, responded to requests for comment. Ligonier Police Chief Bryan Shearer, who sits on the training board, voted against the agreement, saying Kleinhelter's decertification should not be delayed. “I can’t and will not vote for someone who is the chief law enforcement officer of their county … to continue to operate on our certification,” Shearer said. “We have held other officers accountable for the same violations. … I cannot stand for it.” “This is principle,” he continued. “If you’ve not read the public records for this case, please do before you make a decision.” Shearer said Tuesday that Braun should have removed Kleinhelter from the training board 15 months ago. "If we won't hold our people accountable, who will?" Shearer said. "Who will?" State law does not require a conviction for decertification, but unethical behavior is justification enough, which Shearer said Kleinhelter admitted to during the investigation. Shearer said he expects Kleinhelter to voluntarily decertify himself within the next 48 hours. If he doesn't, Shearer said, the subcommittee will begin the formal process to decertify him. Disagreements over settlement The proposed agreement, approved earlier this year by the LETB’s decertification subcommittee, would have required Kleinhelter to resign from the board upon acceptance and formally relinquish his law enforcement certification by the start of 2027. It also specified that the agreement would not constitute an admission of misconduct. Subcommittee chairman David Wantz told board members the deal offered certainty in a case that could otherwise drag on. “This is a delayed voluntary relinquishment,” Wantz said. “It immediately will remove him from the training board… and it gives us a date certain when the [certification] will be relinquished.” Wantz and others warned that rejecting the deal could prolong the process, especially given the pending criminal case. “It is likely that his attorneys will ask for continuances,” Wantz said, noting the board might otherwise have to wait until the criminal case concludes. But some members of the training board argued the agreement would allow Kleinhelter to avoid timely accountability and set a troubling precedent. Former ISP Superintendent Doug Carter, who spoke during the meeting, was even more blunt and criticized both the proposed settlement and state leadership for failing to act sooner. “Mike Braun and (chief of staff) Josh Kelley should have removed Kleinhelter months ago, and by not doing so, they have disrespected this body,” Carter said. Carter, who has been outspoken about the handling of the state police investigation into Kleinhelter and the fallout for the lead investigator, said the case was emblematic of broader accountability concerns within top law enforcement leadership. He urged the board to reject what he called a “politically expedient solution” and instead allow the case to proceed to a full hearing. “If Kleinhelter wants to drag this out, so be it,” Carter said. “But let the facts be known.” Decertification process continues Part of Monday’s discussion centered on the unusual nature of decertifying an elected sheriff. LETB general counsel Raquel Ramirez emphasized that Kleinhelter’s authority comes from his elected position — not his certification — meaning decertification would not immediately remove him from office. “His position and election as sheriff is what gives him authority,” Ramirez said. “Right now, whether we take [his certification] or not does not change his ability… to manage the jail and do all of the other things the sheriff is required to do.” Had the settlement been approved, Kleinhelter would have been required to relinquish his certification by Jan. 1, 2027 — effectively ensuring he could not continue working as a law enforcement officer after his elected term ends or seek another policing job elsewhere in Indiana without going through the certification process again. Scott and ILEA Executive Director Tim Horty maintained on Monday that a delayed relinquishment sought to sooner ensure that the sheriff could not later serve as an officer elsewhere in the state. “We are in control,” Horty said. “If we (don’t approve the settlement), I think it’s a gamble, and we are not being as efficient with government resources as possible.” Board member David Gilbert, chief of the Marion Police Department, additionally said he was uneasy with the delay but ultimately saw value in the guarantee the agreement offered. “It would gall me … if on Jan. 2, this former sheriff has been appointed as a marshal in some part of Indiana, and he is able to — even for a couple of months — able to maintain law enforcement certifications. That would bother me more than the delay between now and the end of the year,” Gilbert said. “I don’t like it. But the certainty here is that after Jan. 1, he can’t be an officer… and to me there’s some value in that.” Ramirez also warned that moving forward with a decertification hearing while criminal charges are pending could complicate the prosecution. “It is essentially a free deposition and a free opportunity to cross-examine prior to the criminal case proceeding,” she said, adding that such proceedings often “push way into 2027.” But multiple board members rejected the idea of waiting. “We are the certifying agency of the state of Indiana,” Shearer said. “Our decision is… should he be a certified law enforcement officer in the state of Indiana? … He should be decertified, period.” The sheriff’s case now returns to the LETB’s decertification subcommittee, which will determine next steps — including whether to pursue a formal hearing or renegotiate terms. A previously scheduled decertification hearing for Kleinhelter remains on the calendar for next week, though Ramirez said Monday she was unsure whether it would proceed. Kleinhelter’s criminal case in Marion County is ongoing, with a pretrial conference set for May 12. 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