DUBOIS CO. – Dubois County Prosecutor Beth Schroeder has filed a request with Dubois Superior Court for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of the Dubois County Sheriff’s Office inappropriately spending commissary funds.
Schroeder says that, given that she and Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter are both elected officials in Dubois County, she filed a petition requesting that an independent prosecutor be appointed to investigate the allegations out of an abundance of caution and to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
No appointment of a special prosecutor has been made at this time.
The State Board of Accounts investigation found that Sheriff Kleinhelter misused jail commissary funds multiple times, beginning in 2019. A special audit was filed in late July to review Sheriff Kleinhelter’s spending habits.
The State Board of Accounts report shows he was using jail commissary funds in ways not approved by the Dubois County Council.
The State Board of Accounts found that almost $9,000 was used towards travel costs for his wife, who was not an employee of the sheriff’s department, for travel to law enforcement conferences in Florida, Arizona, and Dubai.
Those purchases included travel expenses and conference registration for his wife to four conferences between 2021 and 2023. Those travel expenses totaled $8,852.95 for trips to Florida, Arizona and Dubai
Dubai was the most expensive trip at $7,375.92 on May 16, 2023, for the World Police Summit. According to the event website, it is an annual event hosting law enforcement agencies from 138 countries to gather insights from experts from the FBI, NYPD, LAPD, Metropolitan Police, Australian Police, Canadian Mountain Police, German Police, and many more.
According to the report, the sheriff also paid $887.40 for airfare to Panama City, Florida, for a law enforcement training event on May 2, 2023; registration for the National Sheriff’s Association Conference in Phoenix, Ariz. for $244.40 on Feb. 26, 2021; and airfare to Sandestin, Fla., for a law enforcement training conference for $347.50 on Oct. 4, 2023.
The State Board of Accounts also found that on November 1, 2023, the sheriff purchased four $100 Visa prepaid gift cards and 50 Blackstone 22-inch flat-top grills for $7,921.76. The items were given to the Sheriff’s Office employees as gifts.
Kleinhelter reimbursed all the Jail Commissary funds with a personal check for $16,774.71 on June 27, 2024.
