Dubois County Sheriff Kleinhelter Charged With Misconduct, Lying to Investigators

Dubois County Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter was charged with a Level 6 felony and three Class B misdemeanors on April 9 after Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears alleged he made false statements to Indiana State Police investigators probing nearly $78,000 in questionable spending from the jail commissary fund.

The charges, one count of official misconduct and three counts of false informing, stem from a recorded ISP interview Kleinhelter gave on December 19, 2024. Prosecutors say his answers that day contradicted financial records and documentary evidence in three specific areas outlined in a probable cause affidavit filed April 8.

Investigators allege the 56-year-old sheriff described commissary-funded golf outings as law-enforcement conferences, claimed a refund from a canceled trip to Dubai was airline credit when the money actually returned to his personal credit card, and denied appointing his wife as a special deputy despite records indicating otherwise. The official misconduct charge, the most serious allegation in the filing, is tied specifically to statements Kleinhelter made while acting in his official capacity.

The investigation began after the Indiana State Board of Accounts completed a 2024 audit flagging roughly $78,000 in questionable expenditures from the sheriff's office commissary fund, which is designated for inmate services. The Board of Accounts referred those findings to the Indiana State Police, which conducted the criminal probe before the matter moved to Mears' office in Marion County.

The Dubois County Sheriff's Office issued a statement acknowledging the charges and noted the sheriff's attention to his due-process rights as proceedings continue. Kleinhelter has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.

The charges arrive as the office has already faced prior administrative and decertification actions at the state level. Kleinhelter is term-limited at the end of 2026, and the April 9 filing adds a criminal dimension to his final year in office, with arraignment and potential bond conditions representing the immediate next steps in the case.