Affidavit outlines investigation into Sheriff Kleinhelter’s misuse of public funds (updated)
We have attached the search warrant affidavits to the story. Each was granted by Judge Anthony Quinn. Two more at bottom of the story.
The Dubois County Free Press has obtained information regarding the special investigation into Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter through a series of public information requests from the Indiana State Police, Dubois County Commissioners, Dubois County Auditor, and Dubois County Clerk.
Indiana State Police Lieutenant Jeffrey C. Hearon filed several search warrants during the investigation. In a warrant filed in the Dubois County Superior Court on October 22, 2024, Lt. Hearon explained the probable cause revealed in the investigation that led to the request.
The investigation into Sheriff Kleinhelter was opened after a regular audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts (SBOA) that began in May of 2024 identified purchases from the jail commissary fund that fell outside the Sheriff’s discretionary spending authority under Indiana law.
As county sheriff, Kleinhelter oversees the jail commissary fund established under Indiana Code 36-8-10-21. The statute specifies categories of expenses that can be disbursed at the Sheriff’s discretion without further appropriation by the county fiscal body.
According to the affidavit filed by Lt. Hearon, the audit revealed approximately $78,000 in questionable expenses, of which Kleinhelter provided unverified justifications for all but $16,774.71. This amount included $8,852.95 for airfare and training conference costs for his wife, Angela Kleinhelter, who was not a county employee.
The remaining unjustified expenses include $7,921.76 spent on four $100 Visa prepaid gift cards and fifty Blackstone 22-inch flat-top grills purchased on November 1, 2023. Kleinhelter allegedly took one grill for himself and distributed the remaining items as gifts to department employees.
State auditors determined these expenses did not meet the criteria for allowable expenditures under state law and were not approved by the county fiscal body as required for discretionary spending.
After being notified of his personal responsibility to repay the funds, Kleinhelter allegedly attempted to circumvent this obligation, police said. On June 18, 2024, he emailed Dubois County Auditor Sandy Morton requesting a check for $16,774.71 from the Sheriff’s Donation Fund to be deposited into his commissary account.
According to the auditor, the fund is $34,200.50 and is comprised of donations from the public. About half of it is earmarked to support the Sheriff’s Office K-9 program.
According to the affidavit, when Morton questioned the request, Kleinhelter insisted, “Because that is how I want to do it.” Rather than granting it, Morton contacted the SBOA field examiners for guidance.
The State Board of Accounts investigation reported that the Sheriff subsequently submitted a payment to the commissary fund the next week, June 27.
However, according to the affidavit, Kleinhelter later submitted a voucher for reimbursement of $16,774.71 from the Sheriff’s donation fund. That voucher, dated July 15, 2024, included SBOA auditor Scott Stockton’s name in the request, “as if the reimbursement had been endorsed by Scott Stockton of the State Board of Accounts,” Lt. Hearon wrote in the affidavit.
Kleinhelter eventually withdrew this voucher request only after it was highlighted during the SBOA Exit Conference with the county fiscal body.
Regarding the trip to Dubai, the Sheriff revealed he had never taken it when his office submitted a press release in February stating that he would not face any charges.
But, the affidavit shows a more complex series of events regarding the trip.
The investigation by state police determined that Kleinhelter had booked a trip to the World Police Summit in Dubai for himself and his wife on May 16, 2023, using his personal American Express credit card. The following day, he wrote himself a check from the commissary fund for $15,764.50. The investigator noted that in doing so, the Kleinhelters also earned “Skymiles” through the frequent flyer program and “would have reaped additional, personal profits through Delta Airlines.”
When interviewed by Indiana State Police on August 29, 2024, Kleinhelter claimed the Dubai trip “did not happen” and that he had canceled it. He also stated Delta Airlines provided him with airline credit instead of cash, which delayed his repayment to the commissary fund.
However, records obtained from Delta Airlines through a subsequent search warrant show Kleinhelter received a refund of $14,747.30 on January 18, 2024 – months before the audit began in May 2024. The refund covered expenses for both himself and his wife, contradicting his statements to investigators.
According to the affidavit, Kleinhelter failed to disclose the trip’s cancellation or the refund to SBOA auditors. If this information had been known, Kleinhelter would have been responsible for returning all county funds for the trip, not just his wife’s portion.
Lieutenant Hearon’s affidavit states that Kleinhelter has “engaged in deceitful behavior, such as making false statements, misrepresenting the statements of others, attempting to manipulate others to avoid consequences, and attempting to manipulate others for future benefit.”
The affidavit concludes that Kleinhelter appears to have made “an inappropriate personal profit of $7,373.65 from the Commissary Fund” by only reimbursing funds for his wife’s expenses rather than his own as well.
Subsequent records requests noted that Kleinhelter made two personal deposits into the commissary fund: $7,373.65 on August 6, 2024, and $1,418.80 on August 12, 2024.
In February, a press release from the Sheriff’s office stated that Orange County Prosecuting Attorney Holly Hudelson, assigned as the special prosecutor in the case, had declined to file charges against Kleinhelter. The press release gave no reason for that decision other than that the funds had been repaid.
Kleinhelter is two years into his second term and is not eligible to run for reelection in the next cycle.
