The Dubois County sheriff will remain in office after giving up his Indiana law enforcement certification.
According to a report from the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board on Monday accepted an agreement in which Sheriff Thomas Kleinhelter voluntarily surrendered his certification.
The action takes effect immediately, but it does not remove Kleinhelter from office because Indiana sheriffs are elected under the state constitution and do not require certification to serve in that role.
Indiana State Police Superintendent Anthony Scott, who chairs the training board, said the board does not have the authority to remove an elected sheriff from office.
Kleinhelter is facing felony charges in Marion County alleging he made false statements to Indiana State Police investigators during an investigation into the operation of the Dubois County Sheriff’s Office. He has pleaded not guilty.
The certification case stemmed from a State Board of Accounts audit that questioned about 78-thousand dollars in sheriff’s office commissary fund spending. A special prosecutor declined to file charges related to the spending allegations.
A pretrial conference in the criminal case is scheduled for June 30.
