Braun removes Dubois County Sheriff Kleinhelter from training board after failed deal

Gov. Mike Braun removed Dubois County Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter from the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board after board members rejected a settlement that would have let him keep his law-enforcement certification until Jan. 1, 2027.

The vote, taken Monday, April 20, 2026, came after nearly an hour of debate and left the sheriff’s legal and administrative troubles unresolved. For Dubois County residents, the result keeps the county’s top law-enforcement office tied to a statewide fight over accountability, certification, and public trust.

The proposed agreement would have required Kleinhelter to step off the board immediately while delaying any loss of certification until the start of next year. It failed by a 9-4 vote, and Braun acted after a recommendation from Indiana State Police Superintendent Anthony Scott, who chairs the board. Kleinhelter had been appointed to the panel by former Gov. Eric Holcomb.

The situation had become especially sensitive because Kleinhelter was serving on the board’s decertification subcommittee while his own case moved forward. That arrangement helped fuel criticism that the matter had become uncomfortably tangled inside the state’s law-enforcement oversight system.

Kleinhelter’s criminal case is separate but closely linked. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced charges on April 9, 2026, including one Level 6 felony count of official misconduct and three Class B misdemeanor counts of false informing. Those charges stem from statements investigators say Kleinhelter made during a recorded Indiana State Police interview on Dec. 19, 2024.

The investigation began as a broader review of jail commissary spending. An audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts identified roughly $78,000 in questionable spending from the Dubois County Sheriff’s Office commissary fund. Earlier reporting had focused on nearly $17,000 spent on items including Blackstone grills and Visa gift cards, along with travel-related costs tied to a canceled Dubai trip and expenses involving Kleinhelter’s wife.

The sheriff’s office said the charges came as a shock to Kleinhelter and his staff. Kleinhelter remains in office and still holds his law-enforcement credentials while the decertification request continues through the state process.

Indiana law gives the training board power to revoke, suspend, modify or restrict certification in cases involving felony convictions, certain misdemeanors, false-information cases or conduct that would amount to a qualifying crime. Any final action would put Kleinhelter’s name on the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy’s decertification index, turning a local scandal into a permanent mark on his professional record.