A months-long state police investigation into Dubois County Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter scrutinized his handling of jail commissary funds. But unlike a high-profile case against former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, no charges were filed — and the only person disciplined was the detective who pursued the case.
Some of the information became public during a July 25 interview with conservative talk radio hosts Rob Kendall and Casey Daniels. Former Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter made explosive allegations that Gov. Mike Braun’s office was involved in squashing the investigation but provided no evidence for the claim.
The governor’s office strongly denies any involvement in the case, and special prosecutor Holly Hudelson of Orange County said that “no one from the governor’s office” influenced her decision not to seek criminal charges against Kleinhelter.
“I didn’t feel like there were criminal charges there,” she told the Indiana Capital Chronicle in a recent interview. “So I declined to file charges.”
The criminal investigation stemmed from a 2024 audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts, which flagged more than $16,000 in spending by Kleinhelter. State auditors forwarded the case to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office and the local prosecuting attorney, and state police opened an investigation in July 2024.
An 80-page probable cause affidavit — prepared by ISP investigator Lt. Jeff Hearon and later obtained by the Indiana Capital Chronicle — alleged that Kleinhelter used public funds for trips to Arizona and Florida.
Law enforcement regularly draft affidavits to provide a factual basis for charging a crime, but ultimately the decision is up to a prosecutor.
Hearon also spearheaded the yearslong ISP investigation that ultimately landed Noel in prison. Carter replaced the original investigator in the Kleinhelter case after two months because he said it needed a closer look.
Hearon’s affidavit, as well as search warrant requests and returns filed in Dubois County, alleged that Kleinhelter created and backdated special deputy paperwork for his wife, seemingly to “falsely legitimize inappropriate expenses” for travel through the commissary fund.
Records collected by Hearon through search warrants alleged that Kleinhelter attempted to reimburse himself for other purchases, including prepaid gift Visa gift cards and Blackstone grills the sheriff said were purchased as “gifts” for sheriff’s department employees.
Hearon wrote in his affidavit that Kleinhelter later told auditors he conducted his own “self-audit” of commissary records and voluntarily paid back additional money. But Hearon said in search warrant requests and his affidavit that Kleinhelter’s repayments only occurred after media inquiries began and the criminal investigation was opened.
Kleinhelter, who is in the second year of his second and final term as sheriff, denied those allegations. He told the Capital Chronicle he “fully cooperated” with investigators and “fully abided” by state law and Dubois County Council recommendations related to commissary fund spending.
“There was NO crime that had been committed,” he wrote in an emailed statement.
A lengthy investigation
The trips, which Kleinhelter logged as travel for professional conferences, included numerous “leisure activities” that were “outside the bounds” of training, Hearon alleged in his affidavit.
Hearon concluded in his affidavit that receipts, travel logs and interviews showed the trips were largely personal — including charges for golf, hotels, baseball games, alcohol and meals for two — often with his wife, Angie Kleinhelter, who was not a county employee.
In one example detailed in the affidavit, Kleinhelter expensed a golf outing in Florida as “training.” Photos, receipts and other records gathered during the investigation indicate Kleinhelter spent up to five hours a day at golf courses on two separate days during scheduled sessions of the 2021 National Sheriffs’ Association Conference in Scottsdale.
Hearon alleged in search warrant documents that Kleinhelter also submitted incomplete or falsified receipts, and Hearon’s affidavit said the sheriff kept a $14,747 refund for canceled airline tickets to a conference in Dubai, rather than returning the money to the commissary fund.
Kleinhelter “did not make any mention of the trip being cancelled” until he was interviewed by ISP on Aug. 29, 2024, Hearon stated in search warrant documents. The SBOA audit was completed and published before that interview, on July 26.
“Kleinhelter said the trip to Dubai was canceled, but it was never mentioned to the State Board of Accounts because they never asked, and he never volunteered the information,” Hearon wrote in a Nov. 7 search warrant request. “Kleinhelter said he initially received points instead of monetary refund and later converted those points to cash.”
“Because Kleinhelter withheld information about canceling the trip, State Board of Accounts only found Kleinhelter liable for repaying costs related to his wife,” Hearon continued in the warrant request. “Had State Board Of Accounts known the trip was canceled, Kleinhelter would have been responsible for returning all the county funds used to pay for the trip.”
When questioned about the Dubai tickets, Kleinhelter told ISP investigators, “I could’ve just easily lied about that … but I told the truth and paid back money so that I wouldn’t be a liar,” according to search warrant requests. He added that his actions would have been permissible “if I would’ve just made (my wife) a special deputy.”
But records gathered by Hearon appear to show Kleinhelter did try to deputize his wife after the spending on trips, and after SBOA began auditing the commissary account.
Hearon’s affidavit and search warrant filings alleged that Kleinhelter created and backdated two special deputy forms for Angie Kleinhelter during the audit process and asked an attorney to sign one of them without dating it.
The sheriff initially told investigators that he had not appointed Angie, but later claimed in an interview with ISP to have done so and submitted the forms to state auditors.
In a statement to the Capital Chronicle, Kleinhelter said, “A document was created at the recommendation of the State Board of Accounts,” referring to the special deputy paperwork.
But investigators found no evidence that SBOA instructed Kleinhelter to backdate or retroactively fill out the special deputy documents.
Indiana law allows sheriffs to appoint special deputies, but only under specific statutory conditions. Angie Kleinhelter did not qualify, Hearon wrote.
The affidavit also described an attempt to use a sheriff’s donation fund to repay the county.
When state auditors told Kleinhelter he was responsible for returning more than $16,000 — roughly $8,800 attributed to airfare and training conference costs for Kleinhelter’s wife, and $7,900 for Visa gift cards and grills — he asked the county auditor to transfer money from a sheriff’s donation fund to cover the debt, according to search warrant requests.
When the auditor asked why, Kleinhelter replied, “Because that is how I want to do it.”
Hearon recommended that Kleinhelter be charged with multiple offenses, including official misconduct, forgery, theft, deception, ghost employment and obstruction of justice.
No charges filed
Despite the evidence gathered by Hearon, special prosecutor Hudelson declined to pursue charges.
After meeting with ISP investigators in September 2024, Hudelson said she was uncertain if the collected evidence amounted to criminal charges.
She said she expressed the same concerns months later during another meeting with investigators in February.
In a Feb. 20 press release, Kleinhelter announced he had been cleared and said he “never had the intent to defraud Dubois County.”
Orange County Prosecutor Holly Hudelson (Photo courtesy Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council) “All monies used … had been paid back to the county in full,” the sheriff said in his statement.
Hudelson, in a recent interview with the Capital Chronicle, said she “did not think there was enough there” to prosecute the sheriff.
“I had a real issue with any sort of criminal intent involved, and I didn’t feel like I would be able to prove the case,” Hudelson said. “Cases have elements that have to be proved, and I just did not feel like all of those elements were met.”
She added that no one pressured her not to file charges.
Hudelson described a follow-up email Hearon sent her as “unprofessional,” though she said she did not file a formal complaint and instead forwarded the message to others within ISP.
In the Feb. 19 email, Hearon questioned Hudelson’s decision not to pursue charges against Kleinhelter and asked for a face-to-face meeting to discuss the case.
“I have worked numerous cases and understand we each have a role … Basically, police investigate, and prosecutors prosecute,” Hearon wrote. “Unfair second-guessing on both sides can quickly erode each other’s credibility and sour future relationships.”
Hearon, a 37-year law enforcement veteran with no prior infractions, was formally disciplined by state police on July 17 in connection to his work on the Kleinhelter case, according to disciplinary records obtained by the Capital Chronicle. The internal investigation launched shortly after Hearon sent the email.
ISP’s internal findings, issued by Superintendent Anthony Scott, stated that Hearon acted “outside the bounds of professional expectations” in his communication with the prosecutor.
He was found by ISP to be in violation of three agency policies, in total: disseminating information not disclosable to the public; conduct “unbecoming” of an officer; and “overbearing and/or oppressive conduct in the discharge of his duties.”
The disciplinary report states that Hearon improperly sent a copy of the probable cause affidavit to at least two local officials before the case had been reviewed or closed by the special prosecutor. ISP officials concluded the document sharing violated chain-of-command expectations and breached internal rules governing investigative communications.
Hearon was additionally cited for “unprofessional conduct” related to his email to Hudelson. The department’s review said the tone of the email — particularly his suggestion that the prosecutor was failing to communicate and undermining the investigation — crossed a line.
In a statement to the Capital Chronicle, Hearon’s attorney, Andrew Duncan, maintained that, “Jeff Hearon is the best detective the Indiana State Police has to offer.”
“His work is as impeccable as his honesty and integrity. He undertook an investigation at the direction of former Superintendent Doug Carter and provided a thorough and more than sufficient probable cause affidavit,” Duncan wrote. “His top tier work product was set aside for unknown reasons and disciplinary charges were manufactured to make it appear as if Jeff had done something wrong. He did nothing wrong and will vigorously fight his disciplinary sanction before the Indiana State Police Board.”
Hearon was suspended without pay for two days; removed from his position as an investigative commander; reassigned to the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center; and barred from teaching at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.
ISP spokesperson Ron Galaviz noted that while Hearon was reassigned, “he has not been demoted.”
Former superintendent speaks out
Carter — who assigned Hearon to the case — has since sounded alarms about how the Kleinhelter investigation was handled.
During a nearly 40-minute interview last month on WIBC’s “Kendall and Casey” show, he said ISP’s internal investigation was “targeted,” and that Hearon “got moved to a job that doesn’t matter.”
Carter, who retired from his post earlier this year when the Braun administration took over, was ISP’s longest serving superintendent, and spent nearly 40 years in law enforcement.
He oversaw the onset of the Kleinhelter investigation but retired before the probe concluded in February.
Carter said communication with state and local officials about the Kleinhelter case “went silent” after Braun, a fellow Dubois County Republican, became governor in January. Kleinhelter also endorsed Braun for governor.
“(Hearon) found a very strong likelihood, of probable cause, to believe there had been theft, perjury, official misconduct, and conflict of interest,” Carter told WIBC. “This was after a comprehensive, three-month interview with search warrants, data reviews, personal interviews — with counsel commissioner, the matron of the jail, with the sheriff himself — and an 80-page probable cause affidavit.”
“I came to some conclusions based on what I know, and a logical conclusion … would be that there was some level of interference someplace …,” he continued.
Hearon additionally maintained in a separate letter sent to hundreds of members of the Indiana State Police Alliance earlier this year that, “I have reason to believe that current leadership within ISP may have improperly intervened to halt or suppress the progression of the investigation.”
The Alliance is an association of Indiana state troopers with a mission of promoting better law enforcement to the citizens of Indiana and gaining statewide support for police.
But neither Carter nor Hearon have provided specific evidence proving interference.
The governor’s office has vehemently denied any involvement or obstruction in the Kleinhelter investigation.
“The special prosecutor has already made it clear that our office had no involvement,” Braun’s office said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle. “It’s a sad day when the former State Police superintendent resorts to lies in a desperate attempt to smear our brave men and women in blue.”
Hudelson additionally said she wasn’t swayed by anything — or anyone — other than the evidence presented to her by investigators.
“I’ve never spoken with anyone from the governor’s office. I’ve never spoken with the governor. I’ve never spoken with anyone purporting to represent the governor,” she said. “There was an investigation, and I declined to file charges. And when there was more of an investigation, I didn’t change my mind. I didn’t necessarily feel like there was more uncovered. That’s how I made the decision.”
Carter told the Capital Chronicle that Hearon’s discipline “wasn’t justified,” and that ISP leadership “moved our most senior detective to a basement to take phone calls … not because that’s what they should do, but because they could.”
“Any one of seven million people in Indiana would have been in jail a long time ago based upon this evidence,” he said.
Kleinhelter pointed the Capital Chronicle to his April 6 Facebook post in which he described the nine-month investigation into his conduct as “both challenging and enlightening,” and reiterated his claim that he committed “absolutely no criminal activity.”
“I have dedicated more than 30 years of my life to serving this county and the office, maintaining a reputation that has never been called into question — until now, when it seems that politics have begun to obscure the lines of integrity and fairness,” he said in the post. “It is disheartening to witness how personal biases can infiltrate professional settings, particularly in a role that carries the considerable responsibility of serving the public and upholding the law. My commitment to this office and the well-being of our community remains steadfast.”
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.