The state body that oversees police certification is now considering whether Dubois County Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter should be stripped of his law enforcement credentials.
The Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board’s decertification subcommittee was asked last week to review the case, following a request from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and its executive director, Tim Horty.
The request follows a monthslong Indiana State Police investigation into allegations of misconduct by Kleinhelter. Although a special prosecutor ultimately decided not to charge Kleinhelter, the training board voted Aug. 18 to move forward with charges of fraud, perjury, false informing and criminal misconduct.
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The board pointed to two separate allegations of fraud in the charging document.
In one instance, Kleinhelter was accused of purchasing employee gifts and directing the jail matron to falsely list the expenses as “training” in commissary records. The sheriff is also alleged to have reimbursed the jail commissary with more than $16,000 following a state audit, but then sought to recoup the money by filing a reimbursement request with the county auditor that falsely listed a State Board of Accounts employee’s name to suggest its approval.
The board also accused Kleinhelter of perjury, alleging that the sheriff signed a nepotism compliance form months after he approved his wife as a special deputy. The training board claimed that could be a violation of the county’s policy around “hiring and supervising relatives.”
Kleinhelter is further accused of false informing for telling state police investigators he received an airline “e-credit” for a canceled work trip — although the airline confirmed he was actually issued a direct refund.
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ILEA’s training board noted in the charging document that Kleinhelter’s alleged actions occurred while he was serving in his official capacity as sheriff and could qualify as official misconduct.
Kleinhelter did not reply to the Indiana Capital Chronicle’s request for comment about his potential decertification.
Even if he is decertified, however, he could still serve as sheriff. In Indiana, sheriffs’ offices are constitutionally created, and holding the office does not require police certification.
To qualify for the ballot and hold the office of sheriff, a candidate must only be a voter in the county and have been a resident of the county for at least one year before the election. Even so, sheriffs are only granted arresting powers if certified by the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board.
Kleinhelter serves on the full 23-member training board that will make the final decision on his case.
Subcommittee to weigh decertification
The state police’s 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.
The probe has since drawn wider attention after former Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter publicly criticized the agency’s handling of the case. Carter pointed to the discipline of Lt. Jeff Hearon, the lead investigator, who was suspended after pressing a reluctant prosecutor to charge Kleinhelter.
Horty told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that his office initiated the decertification request after spotting news coverage of the state audit into Kleinhelter’s handling of county jail commissary funds.
“On a weekly basis, we do a Google search of police officers around the state that might be involved in any kind of activity,” Horty said. “That Google Alert came up … and then we went to the State Board of Accounts to look at their report that is a public record.”
Under Indiana law, officers can lose their certification for certain felony or misdemeanor convictions — but also for conduct that would constitute a crime, even if no charges are filed. Horty emphasized that distinction.
“The reason that the law was written with or without conviction is because … just because they don’t necessarily get prosecuted doesn’t mean that (criminal charges) should just be dropped,” Horty said.
The decertification process begins with the training board’s five-member subcommittee, made up of three law enforcement board members and two civilians. It’s currently chaired by David Wantz, former president of the Independent Colleges of Indiana.
The subcommittee conducts an evidentiary hearing, where the officer can appear with legal counsel.
“For lack of a better term, it’s an administrative trial,” Horty explained.
He additionally stressed that the academy does its own investigation before presenting a case to the subcommittee, which includes collecting documentation to support allegations.
“In this case, it was the State Board of Accounts report,” Horty said. “We started to determine internally, should this go to the subcommittee? In this case, we said yes, because I think there is some conduct that could be considered a felony if it were convicted.”
Conditions for decertification
State law changed in 2022 to broaden when an officer can be decertified.
Under current statute, certification can be revoked if an officer has been convicted of a felony, or of a misdemeanor that would lead “a reasonable person” to believe the officer is dangerous, violent, or has a demonstrated propensity to break the law.
Certification can also be stripped if the officer has been found not guilty of a felony by reason of mental disease or defect; if the officer’s certification was issued in error or based on false information; or if the officer engaged in conduct that would constitute a disqualifying criminal offense even without being formally charged or convicted.
Before the law changed, the standard was a felony conviction or two qualifying misdemeanors.
From there, the decertification deliberations unfold much like a courtroom case, but the burden of proof is lower, Horty said. The standard is “preponderance of the evidence … meaning just over 50% certainty,” rather than the criminal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
An officer who receives notice of a decertification request can seek a hearing or voluntarily give up their certification. If the officer chooses the hearing route, Horty said, “we give them 90 days to respond to set a hearing date and so forth.”
A pre-hearing conference must be scheduled within ten days of that request. At the hearing itself, “evidence is presented, they are allowed to be represented by counsel, and it’s an administrative trial,” Horty continued.
The subcommittee does not face a strict timeline. Horty said the panel meets about once a month, “but continuances are common,” and “it could take several months” for a case to be resolved.
He noted that Kleinhelter’s matter has not yet been scheduled because the letter was only recently sent to him and his attorney.
The subcommittee can recommend permanent decertification, a temporary suspension, or impose conditions like additional training or drug and alcohol testing.
“They could give (the law enforcement officer) additional training or additional drug testing or additional something that would help satisfy the board’s appetite,” Horty said.
He added that while officers in past cases have been required to complete domestic violence or Fourth Amendment training, “it has never been a situation where paying the money back or paying a financial retribution has … been part of the” conditional options.
Whatever the subcommittee recommends, the full training board must vote to give final approval.
The board’s 23 members including law enforcement leaders from across the state, as well as civilians — are appointed by the governor and serve four-year terms.
Among the board’s current members is Kleinhelter himself. Horty confirmed that the sheriff’s presence on the board “doesn’t really change anything” in this case, except that he would not participate in any vote involving his own decertification.
Kleinhelter was appointed under former Gov. Eric Holcomb. Horty said no new training board members have yet been named by Gov. Mike Braun’s administration.
This story has been updated to correct information about state requirements for law enforcement certification.
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.
