[Southsider2k12]

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20...2/-1/googleNews

LaPorte County sheriff's spending called into question
Official alleges jail funds used to campaign; Mollenhauer denies allegation.

By STAN MADDUX
Tribune Correspondent

LAPORTE — Spending by the LaPorte County sheriff is being called into question with allegations that some jail money is helping to further his campaign.

Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer strongly denies the allegations, in what's becoming a hotly disputed race between him and longtime LaPorte County police officer Dick Buell, who narrowly lost to Mollenhauer in the election four years ago.

At Tuesday's LaPorte County Commissioners meeting, LaPorte County Council member Earl Cunningham of Michigan City again requested an itemized list of all expenditures from the jail commissary fund since the sheriff took office in 2007.

Cunningham said as much as $20,000 or more in commissary money was spent by the sheriff in areas such as equipment for youth baseball, football and basketball programs.

In return, the recipients included an ad in their publications featuring a photo of Mollenhauer with his name and title and other written materials about their programs.

"Looks like campaigning," Cunningham said.

Mollenhauer said none of the ads with his photo and name make reference to the campaign or solicit a vote.

In fact, he said, Cunningham is a supporter of state Sen. Jim Arnold, the former sheriff who had ads placed in materials published by similar organizations that received donations from the commissary fund.

Mollenhauer accused Cunningham of dirty politics.

"He's trying to undermine this department financially and I'm getting extremely sick of it," Mollenhauer said.

In response to a request from Cunningham, the commissioners asked Mollenhauer to provide him with an itemized list of commissary account expenditures from Jan. 1, 2007, to Dec. 31, 2009.

Cunningham said he will file a public information claim in LaPorte Circuit Court if the request isn't met.

"I think taxpayers deserve to know what that money has been spent on," Cunningham said.

[Southsider2k12]

WIMS got great live reactions from both Sheriff Mollenhauer and Earl Cunningham this morning on the issue. They can be heard at the WIMS facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-By-the-...0.2314568442..1

[JHeath]

WIMS got great live reactions from both Sheriff Mollenhauer and Earl Cunningham this morning on the issue. They can be heard at the WIMS facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-By-the-...0.2314568442..1

I looked for it, but didn't find it. Am I missing something?

[Southsider2k12]

I looked for it, but didn't find it. Am I missing something?

If you follow the left hand column down the page, you will see officers, then members, then events, photos, and finally videos. It is the top two videos.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...a6209602111.txt

Meeting gets heated when councilman questions sheriff

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 4:18 AM CST
LA PORTE — The beginning of Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting devolved into a near shouting match when a county councilman questioned La Porte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer’s use of jail commissary funds.

During the meeting’s public-comment portion, County Councilman Earl Cunningham set a stack of area sports team programs in front of him on the speakers’ podium. In a La Porte wrestling program, he turned to a full-page advertisement from the Sheriff’s Department, with Mollenhauer’s picture and name displayed prominently. These ads should be paid for with campaign funds or out of his own pocket, not with commissary funds, Cunningham asserted.

“When he says he is spending money on Tasers and jail equipment, I have no objection to that,” Cunningham said. “But show me in the commissary law where you can make donations or buy advertising ... when you get your picture in the program. That’s a simple benefit to you.”

Cunningham said Mollenhauer has spent more than $26,000 on donations and advertisements from the commissary fund. The sheriff replied that dozens of these donations and advertisements, costing between $100 and $250 each, are supporting area students by helping their sports programs buy equipment.

“It’ll be a sorry day when we can’t give back to our community,” Mollenhauer said. “Those ads say nothing about me being a candidate or voting.”

Mollenhauer also noted his predecessor, former Sheriff Jim Arnold who is now a state senator, also took out many of the same ads, spending about $62,000 on those and on donations to organizations throughout his eight years in office.

“Mr. Cunningham apparently doesn’t have a problem with that,” Mollenhauer said drily.

Cunningham has been vocal about questioning Mollenhauer’s spending ever since Mollenhauer said he would not use commissary funds to pay his deputies for working off-duty at the RPM Fest, a monster truck rally last May. The festival’s promoter never paid the deputies for their work.

Mollenhauer accused Cunningham of “harassing” him by sending him dozens of e-mails about the commissary fund, some containing accusations that have nothing to do with the sheriff’s department. Several times, Cunningham interrupted Mollenhauer’s speech by saying “False!” or scoffing.

“He’s trying to undermine the sheriff’s department and I’m sick of it,” Mollenhauer yelled. “When he put a picture of my ad in front of him before a County Council meeting and Mark Yagelski had to ask him to take it down, when he said he wanted it there ‘because it motivates me,’ that’s a sick person.”

Cunningham accused Mollenhauer of never returning his requests for itemized expenditures explaining what he spent his money on and asked the Commissioners to request copies of all of them from 2007 through 2009. President Barb Huston then asked Mollenhauer to provide the records at no charge.

“Is he going to take this to the media like he has with everything else?” Mollenhauer asked.

“They should be given to the media anyway, they’re public record,” Cunningham shot back.

Mollenhauer said he is planning to use a chunk of commissary funds, which held more than $135,000 at the end of 2009, to buy video recording equipment for more than 90 cameras throughout the jail’s cell blocks. Having surveillance on tape should help prevent litigation and keep inmates and jailers safe, he said.

Both Cunningham and Mollenhauer are up for re-election this year.

[Southsider2k12]

I would like to see what Jim Arnold's records, and what surrounding counties Sheriff's records look like to see how common this is exactly.

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...59266677373.txt

Where do commissary funds go? An N-D analysis

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, February 21, 2010 3:50 PM CST
LA PORTE — Prisoners at the county jail and their families spent $250 to put La Porte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer’s picture on the back cover of La Porte High School’s 2009-2010 wrestling program.

They put it in the high school’s basketball program, too. They even bought him a full-page ad in the program for a local non-profit’s 20th anniversary gala.

But it wasn’t by choice.

Mollenhauer has used more than $26,000 from jail commissary funds to pay for these ads and other donations during the past three years, as well as hundreds of items, including beverage coolies and key chains emblazoned with the Sheriff’s Department logo, according to Sheriff’s Department records.

County Councilman Earl Cunningham is making a point to let everyone know.

“I want to know what category he puts it under. I cannot find a category that will allow me to put an ad in a program or donate money to a cause not affiliated with the sheriff’s office,” Cunningham said, pointing to a printout of Indiana’s jail commissary law.

Cunningham says he’s spent the last three months poring over expenditure lists and reports from the commissary fund, which brings in nearly $150,000 a year. The money comes from collect calls from prisoners to family and friends and various food and clothing items inmates order while locked up.

“Even if it’s not illegal, is it ethical to use that money for personal gain? What better way to get name recognition and not have to pay for it yourself?” Cunningham said.

Historically, sheriff’s departments across the state have used a small portion of commissary funds to “promote a positive image of the office and increase public awareness” through advertising, said Howard Williams, attorney for the Indiana Sheriff’s Association. Spending that might be construed as helping the sheriff promote himself equals 5 percent of Mollenhauer’s total expenditures from the account. The money is largely spent on things the Sheriff’s Department or jail needs, Mollenhauer said — and that’s what the fund is meant for.

“He acts like he wants us to spend all of this money before anything else, but what would we have to fall back on?” Mollenhauer said. “This is where we turn when we need something that isn’t in our budget.”

The money for the advertisements helps support area athletics and keeps kids out of trouble, Mollenhauer said. And it’s not like he’s the first sheriff to buy them, either. Mollenhauer is quick to point out that former sheriff Jim Arnold, who is now a state senator, spent $62,000 on advertisements and donations when he was in office.

“There are probably other sheriffs doing the same thing now,” he said. “I have not done anything illegal. This is political. Everybody knows it. Mr. Cunningham wants to get someone elected that he supports.”

Cunningham and Mollenhauer are Democrats; however, Cunningham has vocally supported Sheriff’s Capt. Dick Buell, also a Democrat, in the past. Cunningham claims he will not support Buell in the May primary unless he vows to not spend commissary funds for “political” purposes.

‘It’s a lot of money’

Cunningham said he first started looking into Mollenhauer’s use of the commissary fund after the sheriff refused to use it to pay his deputies more than $20,000 in wages for working off-duty security at the RPM Fest, a monster truck rally last May at La Porte County Fairgrounds.

The promoter of the event, the county and sheriff’s department all disagree as to which entity was obligated to pay the security fee because a contract was never written prior to the event.

“I had no idea how much money was in there,” Cunningham said of the commissary fund. “When I saw it, my eyes popped.”

As of Dec. 31, the fund contained $135,519.84. But the balance topped $187,000 at the beginning of January 2008, according to Sheriff’s Department records. Over three years, more than $560,000 has been spent from the fund. Nearly a quarter of that spending was reimbursed from their general budget, paid for by taxpayers.

“It’s a lot of money I never knew he had, and a lot of other people didn’t know either,” Cunningham said.

The fund has never been a secret, said Mollenhauer and Mark Yagelski, president of the County Council, which reviews all other spending by the sheriff’s department, as well as other county departments. Every six months for decades, the incumbent sheriff has given the County Council president a copy of the semi-annual expenditure report, which contains beginning and ending balances, as well as how much was spent. But the president never shared it with the rest of the council as part of a “gentleman’s agreement,” Cunningham alleged. Yagelski said the reports are merely informational.

“The state allows the sheriff to have these funds at his disposal. We don’t have control of them,” he said. “It wasn’t intentionally held back. I just told the sheriff to send it to everyone now.”

Commissary funds have been used to purchase many things the county hasn’t been able to afford, Mollenhauer said, like:

• More than $15,000 to refurbish the former 911 center in the basement of the County Annex as the operations center for the La Porte County Metro Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional narcotics investigation task force with investigators from the La Porte County Sheriff’s Department and La Porte Police Department.

• About $2,000 to replace old, rusted hinges on doors in the jail.

• About $20,000 per year for cell phones and pagers for supervisors and the Task Force.

• Keeping inmates at Indiana State Prison when they are deemed too high of a risk to house at the jail. Just one prisoner cost $7,000 last year.

• Pay the electric and gas bills at the firing range and the Sheriff’s Department security building at the fairgrounds.

• Buy new mattresses and blankets for inmates.

The fund also is used to pay for budgeted expenditures more quickly, Mollenhauer said.

“We’ll be penalized if we don’t pay some bills in 30 days, so we use commissary funds to pay them immediately,” he said. “That way we don’t have to wait for the auditor’s reimbursement and pay a late fee.”

A clean bill of health

The Indiana State Board of Accounts audits the Sheriff’s Department every year, including the commissary fund. Nothing major has been found wrong with the office’s accounts each year Mollenhauer has been in office ... which serves as a “badge of pride,” he said, for his staff.

“We’ve been able to make the account grow and have bought lots of things with it so taxpayers don’t have to,” he said. “If that’s not good money management, I don’t know what is.”

But the State Board of Accounts doesn’t comb through every purchase the Sheriff’s Department makes, said Deb Gibson, supervisor of the SBOA’s counties division.

“We don’t do 100 percent testing. We don’t have the time,” Gibson said. “Our auditors do a test with randomly selected purchases. If there are no exceptions, they pass.”

The State Board of Accounts does hold governmental entities accountable when they don’t follow the law, she said. If citizens have concerns about their county’s spending, they can file a complaint with the board to have it investigated during the next audit, she said. Those audits are usually published in late fall.

Cunningham said he took a trip to Indianapolis last month to file a complaint with the board about the money spent on advertising and donations.

“I have done a lot of paperwork on this, it’s an emotional subject for me,” he said. “The taxpayers could use this money right now. I’ve turned down a cell phone and a laptop from the county. I do not get one penny of benefit as a taxpayer from his advertisements.

“County employees haven’t gotten raises in two years. Every dollar we waste is another dollar from road paving or from another person’s salary. If he wastes $26,000 and someone gets laid off, didn’t he just lay that person off?” Cunningham said.

But the State Board of Accounts usually looks very closely at commissary spending because the funds contain a lot of money with no other oversight, said Indiana Sheriff’s Association attorney Williams. He stressed that if state auditors have not taken exception to the sheriff’s spending in three years, they likely never will.

“The law is a little bit fuzzy, but historical perspective is something that is taken into account. Is this activity supported in the past?” Williams asked. “When a sheriff can promote a positive image of his office, of course he should do that.”

Not every past La Porte County sheriff has spent commissary fund money on advertising and donations, though.

County Commissioner Ken Layton, a Republican who served as sheriff from 1987 to 1994, said he never used it to buy ads with his name and face on them.

“It’s not fair for me to say he’s doing this right or this wrong, but I can say unequivocally that I never did that,” Layton said. “I think that’s outside the realm of commissary law.”

‘It’s politically stupid’

Cunningham knows raising a stink about a fellow Democrat’s spending may equal political suicide for him, especially right before the Democratic primaries.

“It’s a politically stupid move on my part to make a big deal out of this. Some Democrats are mad at me because I turned against him. I know I’ll lose votes for this, but I know I’m doing what’s right,” he said. “If I don’t get re-elected, that’s not the end of the world. I’ll know it’s because I complained about $26,000.

“I’m staking my political career on that it’s not ethical to spend money like that,” he said.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jim Sosinski said it would be unfortunate if the Sheriff’s Department could no longer give money to area sports teams and non-profits as a result of Cunningham’s complaints.

“He should know as a former coach that teams don’t receive enough money to run their programs, they need to go out and solicit donations,” Sosinski said. “Putting kids in athletics is a way of keeping them out of trouble. What better way to spend money from offenders than giving back to the community?”

By the numbers

Commissary fund Jan. 1, 2007-Dec. 31, 2009

Income

Inmate collect calls: $304,669.02

Inmate commissary orders: $135,557.74

Reimbursements from general fund: $134,310.97

Interest: $6,588.25

TOTAL: $609,406.32

Expenses

Administrative services: $19,373.74

Advertising/donations: $26,128.75

Building/furniture: $45,320.49

Cell phones/pagers: $62,899.81

Jail: $25,793.47

Metro Task Force: $15,784.16

Office supplies: $51,558.90

Officer equipment/uniforms: $63,762.71

Technology/Internet: $67,560.50

Training/extradition: $112,221.60

TOTAL: $560,829.81

BALANCE AS OF DEC. 31, 2009: $135,519.84

Select items paid for or reimbursed with commissary funds in 2009:

Two GPS units, Bass Pro Shops, April 6: $319.98

Porter County Sheriff’s Office basketball tournament sponsorship, April 25-26: $150

Indiana Sheriff’s Association northwest regional meeting hosted at Blue Chip Casino, May 15: $669.66

Custom beverage coolies (1,000), High End Concepts, May 29: $1,124.60

Attendance for Mollenhauer and 28 deputies at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 25th Annual Steak Fry in Merrillville: $485

Full-page advertisement featuring Mollenhauer in Dunebrook’s 20th Anniversary Gala program: $250

2010 calendars (1,000), Bankers Advertising Co., Oct. 16: $544.50

Select items from Sheriff’s Department credit cards in 2009, paid for with commissary funds:

More than $2,500 spent Jan. 26-Feb. 2 — Trip for Mollenhauer and his wife, Sue.

National Sheriffs’ Association Winter Conference, Washington, D.C., Jan. 28-31

• Seven nights at the JW Marriott, Pennsylvania Avenue: $2,105.80

More than $100 for trip to Chicago Car Show on Feb. 13 for Mollenhauer, Chief Deputy Jim Sosinski, Sosinki’s son, and two other deputies.

• Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, Hammond: $41.35

• Parking at McCormick Place: $17

• Dinner at Ed Debevic’s, Chicago: $45.96

More than $1,300 spent June 20-25 — Trip for Mollenhauer and his wife, Sue.

National Sheriffs’ Association Annual Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., June 20-25

• Four nights at the Hilton, Fort Lauderdale Marina: $862.62

• Seafood dinner at the Samba Room: $59.75

• Steak dinner at Chuck’s Steak House: $63.09

$130.94 spent Aug. 14 — Dinner for 13 deputies, including the sheriff, at The Coachman, Plainfield, Ind., following Indiana Law Enforcement Academy graduation.

$93.20 spent Sept. 16 — Dinner for nine people, including the sheriff and his wife, at Christo’s, La Porte.

$21.32 spent Oct. 14 — Lunch meeting for Mollenhauer and Sosinski at Lindo’s, Michigan City.

$201.82 spent Nov. 4 — Dinner for nine deputies and two deputies’ families at Olga’s Place, Westville, following a town hall meeting with the Westville Police Department.

$83.49 spent Nov. 17 — Lunch for five deputies at Applebee’s following a funeral for a Kosciusko County deputy.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...bf762925141.txt

Comments get heated as Mollenhauer speaks to council

Published: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 10:56 AM CST
Alicia Ebaugh

LA PORTE — Accusing County Councilman Earl Cunningham of “continued harassment, unethical and unprofessional behavior” while conducting a “witch hunt” on the jail commissary fund at Monday night’s council meeting, Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer was backed by raucous cheers from a standing room-only crowd.

“Councilman Cunningham is obviously on a mission to not only destroy me as your sheriff, but in the process he is destroying the credibility of the council and undermining the financial foundation of the Sheriff’s Office,” Mollenhauer read from a 2 1/2 page prepared statement. “Mr. Cunningham has put his personal political agenda ahead of good county government.”

Mollenhauer planned to confront Cunningham at the council meeting over this issue, he said last week, bringing in enough supporters to overflow the chambers. Cunningham has vocally opposed Mollenhauer’s use of commissary funds to buy “political” advertisements with his name and picture in them, as well as buying items like beverage coolies and keychains to hand out at the county fair and other events. Among the issues he mentioned, Mollenhauer accused Cunningham of trying to get a $5,000 grant for inmate drug rehab from the La Porte County Drug Free Partnership taken away from the Sheriff’s Office, claiming it should go to other area non-profits.

“He stated to (them) ‘This program should be paid for with commissary funds,’” Mollenhauer said. “I thought we as elected officials had the responsibility of pursuing grants?”

The crowd loudly protested when Council President Mark Yagelski interrupted Mollenhauer to ask how much longer it would take after his three minutes to speak had expired.

“We want to hear it!” one woman yelled, then another.

“You are not acting as the sheriff. This belongs in public comments,” Yagelski said. He then called a private conference between council members to see whether to allow him to continue.

“You work for us!” they shouted. “Let him finish!”

“You’re the sheriff. Please tell them if they continue to yell, they will be asked to leave,” Yagelski said to Mollenhauer.

When they returned, Cunningham made a motion to let the sheriff continue as long as necessary. Councilwoman Lois Sosinski, who is the wife of Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jim Sosinski, seconded the motion.

Rick Kentaft, La Porte, a former Sheriff’s Office employee, told the crowd he used to write checks out of the commissary fund 20 years ago, and the type of spending has not changed. He said Cunningham needed to move past “political bickering.”

“If you had two students arguing in your class, and one of them brought in a picture of the other one to put in front of them, would you allow that to continue to fuel the fire?” Kentaft asked Cunningham. The councilman has placed copies of Mollenhauer’s ad in the 2009-10 La Porte High School wrestling program in front of him at meetings.

“No,” Cunningham replied quietly.

After the meeting, Cunningham said the sheriff was “preaching to the choir” by bringing in his campaign committee and a half dozen deputies to cheer for him.

“He can bring all the people he wants, he isn’t going to intimidate me,” Cunningham said.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...4c381779732.txt

Political notebook

Published: Friday, February 26, 2010 4:17 AM CST
Derald J. Borton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for La Porte County Council District 2, issued a statement in which he challenged the incumbent, Earl Cunningham, over Cunningham’s criticism of Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer’s use of the jail commissary fund.

“Earl Cunningham needs to stop this witch hunt on Sheriff Mollenhauer. Don’t you think if Mike was misusing funds the State Board of Accounts would let us know? That is why I am running for this council seat. You have got to go, Earl. We need someone who will work with all county department heads and not make personal attacks against them.”

Borton went on, “As councilman, I will clean up the mess you have started and work for the people of La Porte County and not against them.”

He said, “Now, Earl, stop your childhood games and grow up. Instead of attacking the sheriff let’s talk about the real issues of La Porte County — jobs, the homeless problem, schools being cut and others.”

[lovethiscity]

I make a motion that CBTL remain a Derald J. Borton and Tony Zirkle free zone. We should not acknowledge either of them.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...6c961655379.txt

Woman: System wrongs families of inmates

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, March 1, 2010 4:19 AM CST
LA PORTE — Money that ends up in the La Porte County Jail commissary fund — the source of a heated campaign debate — has one woman suggesting the system is taking advantage of inmates’ families.

Money collected from calls made by prisoners to family and friends, as well as various food and clothing items inmates order while locked up, is deposited in the jail commissary fund, which brings in nearly $150,000 a year. The money is largely spent on things the Sheriff’s Department or jail needs that the county can’t afford, Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer said.

“It’s a great asset for our office to have,” Mollenhauer said.

County Councilman Earl Cunningham, however, has argued some of that money is used by Mollenhauer to promote himself in ways the sheriff should use campaign funds for instead.

Mollenhauer is seeking re-election this year.

Most of the inmate bills are paid by the families of inmates, which one woman argues takes advantage of a “sad situation.”

“Most people in jail come from low-income families,” said Sadie Sowards, a Pines resident whose two brothers have spent their lives in and out of jail. “If their parents or wives try to maintain contact with them, they face these outrageous bills.”

La Porte County Jail, like many other county jails, allows inmates to make only collect calls, said Capt. Scott Bell, the Sheriff’s Department jail commander. The county has a contract for the service with Evercom, a telecommunications company that provides phone service for more than 2,000 correctional facilities nationwide. The calls are 30 cents a minute in-state plus a connection fee of between $1.50 and $2.25, according to information on Evercom’s Web site. Out-of-state calls cost $3.95 to connect and 89 cents a minute afterward. This amount doesn’t include state or federal taxes and fees that may show up on a resident’s phone bill, Bell said.

Residents have to sign up with Evercom to receive collect calls from inmates through the jail’s phone system, Bell said.

“We’ve held this contract with the company for awhile and think it provides a pretty good deal,” Mollenhauer said. “It’s one of the cheapest out there.”

The county gets 18 percent of the money billed from those calls, Bell said, bringing in nearly $100,000 a year to the commissary fund.

Sowards said these kinds of collect-call fees burdened her mother for years, and herself, when she had to take care of her brother Darryl Walters’ son while he was incarcerated 20 years ago. His son was 2 at the time.

“What was I going to do? That baby couldn’t help his daddy was in jail,” Sowards said. “I had to take some of the calls. I had to take that baby up to see him.”

Sowards’ mother, however, was elderly and worried for her sons’ well-being, Sowards said. After years of collect calls and putting money in her brothers’ jail accounts, her mother’s home in Ohio went into foreclosure.

“When I told my mom she couldn’t take any more calls, there she’d sit crying and wringing her hands,” she said. “‘He may be hungry, you don’t know,’ my mom would say. ‘He may really need that $10 to buy food.’ I knew he didn’t, but that didn’t make it easier for my mom.”

The commissary fund brings in roughly another $50,000 a year from personal items and food inmates can order. Inmates at La Porte County Jail have to buy the undergarments, socks and T-shirts they wear underneath their orange jumpsuits through this commissary program, Bell said, as well as shampoo, deodorant and soap.

“It prevents contraband from being brought into our jail,” Bell said.

The county has a contract with Keefe Commissary Network, a nationwide jail commissary service provider, that gives them a cut of the proceeds from inmates’ orders. Their order forms are due at the end of the week and sent to Keefe, then the packaged orders are sent by mail to the jail. They are distributed to inmates mid-week.

To purchase these items, though, someone has to put money in the inmate’s commissary account. Most of the time, that cost also falls to family members, Sowards said.

“It costs more than what we’d pay for nice Jockey underpants, and these are flimsy,” she said.

Sowards said she no longer gives her brothers money. Her mother is in a nursing home. Walters’ wife is still struggling to make ends meet for their family, she said, as her brother is serving a minimum 30-year sentence at Lebanon Correctional Institution, Lebanon, Ohio, for the murders of three Ohio women.

Prisoners who cannot pay for basic items like soap and toothbrushes will have them provided by the jail, Bell said.

What Inmates Can Buy

A selection of items inmates can order from the commissary at La Porte County Jail:

Food

• Single-serving coffee mix — 35 cents.

• 10 ounce hot cocoa mix — $1.80.

• 6 ounce chocolate chip cookies — $1.20.

• Ritz cheese crackers (six) — 65 cents.

• Peanut butter wafers (two) — 50 cents.

• Snickers bar — $1.

• Ramen noodles — 95 cents.

• 2 ounce cheese puffs — 75 cents.

• 12-count mayonnaise packets — $1.

Inmate Phone Call Costs

Approximate cost of a 15-minute collect call from an inmate at local correctional facilities (including connection fee):

La Porte County Jail

• In-state — $5.25 to $6.75 ($1.50 to $2.25).

• Out-of-state — $17.30 ($3.95).

Westville

• In-state: $6.75 ($2.25).

• Out-of-state: $5.25 ($1.50).

Indiana State Prison

• Local: $2.95.

• All other calls: $5.25 ($1.50).

Source: Evercom Web site

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...4f503637081.txt

Arnold agrees fund issue needs clarity

Sen. would sponsor bill
By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 4:18 AM CST
LA PORTE — Jim Arnold, the state senator and former La Porte County sheriff, says he would be willing to sponsor legislation to clarify what type of spending is allowable for sheriffs under the state’s jail commissary law.

“I would be more than happy to better define the expenditures allowed by law if the Indiana Sheriff’s Association came to me and asked me to do it,” he said. “It may come to that because of some of the issues that are cropping up now in La Porte County and elsewhere.”

And Steve Luce, Indiana Sheriff’s Association executive director, agrees sheriffs would benefit from more clarity in the law.

“The statute could be a little more detailed about the kinds of purchases that are allowed,” Luce said.

A debate here has erupted over Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer’s use of the jail commissary fund to buy prominent advertisements with his name and picture on them in area sports team and non-profit event programs. County Councilman Earl Cunningham argues those advertisements give Mollenhauer political recognition, and that he should use campaign funds instead.

But Mollenhauer maintains Arnold did the same thing with commissary funds, which come from collect calls made from the jail and the food and other items inmates order while incarcerated.

“I have not done anything other sheriff’s haven’t done in the past,” Mollenhauer has said. “The State Board of Accounts has taken no exception to the spending.”

Mollenhauer and Arnold both cited Section 7 of the commissary law, which states sheriffs may disburse money from the fund for an activity or program of the sheriff’s department intended to reduce or prevent occurrences of criminal activity, to support the ads.

“I talked to people before I spent money that way, and it was done elsewhere,” Arnold said. “If I wasn’t supposed to be allowed to do that, I certainly wasn’t aware of it.”

But some, like Cunningham, read that section to mean the program or activity supported must be created by the Sheriff’s Department.

“I think the law is very clear on that,” Cunningham said.

Sheriff’s statewide face a “gray line” when it comes to advertising in general, Luce said. When the ISA trains new sheriffs every four years, it tells them they should not include their pictures on advertisements paid for with commissary funds because their opponents could construe that spending as political when it’s not meant to be, he said.

“It’s up to them on what to do, but these are things they need to be aware of,” Luce said. “If they’re spending money on an ad, it should promote something like a drug-free message with no picture of themselves. That probably would have made a difference in La Porte County, honestly.”

Another big issue that could use clarification is how sheriffs are allowed to spend commissary funds on technology, Luce said.

“We can buy computers, but does that include upgrades?,” he said. “What about when a new product comes out? Technology changes so fast.”

The deadline for bills to be introduced this legislative session passed in early February. Arnold did not say if he planned to work on a bill for next session, which will begin in the fall.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...8a572547381.txt

Mollenhauer outlines spending

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 4:18 AM CST
LA PORTE — Nearly half of the $26,000 that La Porte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer has spent on advertising and donations from the jail commissary fund went to area projects and other non-profit donations, according to Sheriff’s Department records.

“We couldn’t provide these donations through any other fund,” Mollenhauer said.

Mollenhauer released the figures last week, he said, because he wanted residents to know how the money was spent after hearing criticism about the spending.

The advertising and donations spending was fewer than 5 percent of the expenditures from the commissary fund, which totaled more than $560,000.

Nearly $13,000 of the money went to fund advertisements in area schools’ sports programs and yearbooks containing Mollenhauer’s picture and name during the past three years, Mollenhauer’s records showed, as well as various promotional items the Sheriff’s Department hands out.

This type of spending has been vocally denounced by County Councilman Earl Cunningham as “political” and not allowable by state commissary law, although no exception has been taken to the spending in the past.

Here is a breakdown provided by Mollenhauer of the rest of the spending:

• $9,000 to La Porte County Reserve Officers, Lake Patrol and Posse. These groups are affiliated with the Sheriff’s Department and are comprised of volunteers. Each group receives a $1,000 contribution each year.

• $1,500 to the La Porte County Solid Waste District to help fund a thermal burner. This burner destroys unwanted illegal drugs and explosives.

• $1,400 to Leadership La Porte County. The Sheriff’s Department sends two officers a year to enable them to learn more about county government.

• $1,000 to the Triad Organization’s Beacon Light project. The local non-profit assists the elderly and disabled, and this project provided them a light that is placed outside the residence. The resident can activate it should an emergency occur so medical workers and police can find them more quickly.

• Various smaller donations to local organizations, including Relay for Life and La Porte YMCA’s Strong Kids program.

[lovethiscity]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...4f503637081.txt

What, did our sheriff skip this part for?

Sheriff’s statewide face a “gray line” when it comes to advertising in general, Luce said. When the ISA trains new sheriffs every four years, it tells them they should not include their pictures on advertisements paid for with commissary funds because their opponents could construe that spending as political when it’s not meant to be, he said.

“It’s up to them on what to do, but these are things they need to be aware of,” Luce said. “If they’re spending money on an ad, it should promote something like a drug-free message with no picture of themselves. That probably would have made a difference in La Porte County, honestly.”

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...6a527465878.txt

Commissary fund

Spending is questioned
Published: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 4:19 AM CST
Editorial

The Issue:

Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer used the commissary fund to buy what amount to political ads.

Our Opinion:

Such a use is wrong. The law regulating commissary funds needs to be tightened.

Indiana law governing the use of jail commissary funds needs to be reformed. Revelations by La Porte County Councilman Earl Cunningham that the fund was used by La Porte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauser to put his name and face in advertisements supporting various organizations is troubling. The ads were tantamount to political ads, but using public money rather than the candidate’s own campaign funds is not right.

The law, however, isn’t clear enough to forbid such a use, and Mollenhauer has not been cited by auditors for misspending money from the commissary fund. And, he says, he’s doing what previous sheriffs have done.

The remedy is to tighten the spending requirements in the law, and State Sen. Jim Arnold, D-La Porte, a former sheriff, said he would be happy to do that if the Indiana Sheriffs Association came to him with a proposal. And the executive director of the Sheriffs Association says the statute should be more detailed in what kinds of purchases are allowed.

The current session of the Indiana General Assembly is nearing completion, so it’s too late to file a bill to change the jail commissary law this session, but it should be addressed in the 2011 Indiana General Assembly. The law should require the same kind of accounting oversight and approval as all other spending by county departments.

While the law regulating the jail commissary fund appears vague enough that Mollenhauer could legally pay for ads promoting himself, ironically he is being a stickler for a narrow interpretation of the rules when it comes to not using it to pay his deputies who signed up to work at the RPM Fest last year.

The commissary fund is not a sheriff’s personal slush fund. It’s the public’s money, and its use should be narrowly defined by law.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...74397569883.txt

Much commissary spending for sheriff’s needs

Published: Friday, March 5, 2010 4:17 AM CST
Earl Cunningham has questioned the sheriff’s use of the commissary funds. He has stated that “more than $26,000” from the commissary funds was used to pay for ads in sports programs and other donations. This is not quite an accurate statement.

I am a member of the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. We are a group of volunteer horsemen whose sole purpose is to assist the sheriff and his deputies. We have participated in searches for missing children and Alzheimer’s patients. We have assisted the detective bureau in searching for evidence in a homicide. We also have provided security at many county events. As volunteers, we supply our own horses and saddles and have purchased most of our own equipment, including our uniforms.

For the past three years, Sheriff Mollenhauer has given our group $1,000 each year to purchase additional equipment that we needed. It is my understanding that he has done this for the other two volunteer groups, the Lake Patrol and the Reserve Deputies, as well.

We appreciate this contribution from the sheriff. It has provided us with equipment that we may not have otherwise been able to afford. But please keep in mind, these contributions account for about $9,000 of the commissary fund donations that Mr. Cunningham is talking about.

Donations to sports programs and other youth groups appear to account for a small portion of the expenditures from the commissary account. Much of the money seems to have been spent on the needs of the Sheriff’s Department that either would have gone unfulfilled or would have been paid for by the taxpayers.

Rick Hawkins

Michigan City

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...a2956190841.txt

Cunningham and Council donate money themselves

Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010 8:52 AM CST
La Porte County Councilman Earl Cunningham has questioned the sheriff’s use of the commissary funds. He has taken exception to the fact that the sheriff has chosen to use some of these funds to support some local sports programs and some youth groups.

Isn’t this somewhat hypocritical of Mr. Cunningham?

At the March 23, 2009, meeting of the La Porte County Council, the council voted to give $25,000 of TAXPAYER MONEY to a group called Corner to Cornerstone for a “mentoring and technical training program.” Corner to Cornerstone explained that night that they are a non-profit group that runs a pantry, has an after-school program for 30 children and that they also assist young persons with resumes and job searches.

At that same meeting, the Purdue County Extension Office requested $45,000 of TAXPAYER MONEY for 4-H funding, to help pay for judges and ribbons and trophies at the La Porte County Fair. And I am sure that if you go back through the minutes of council meetings, there have been other instances when non-profits have come to the council to request money.

So I guess Mr. Cunningham thinks that it is OK to donate MY tax money to non-profit organizations with youth programs but it is not OK for the sheriff to do it with funds contributed by OFFENDERS. As I said, that is hypocritical.

I don’t know about you, but when I pay my taxes, I expect the money to go toward the functioning of the county. And when I give donations to non-profit organizations, I would like to choose who I donate to and not leave that decision to Mr. Cunningham.

Karen Lile

La Porte

[lovethiscity]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...a2956190841.txt

Odd, I have never seen pictures of county council members on Corner to Cornerstone or 4-H literature. Donation towards job training vs a kid ending up in jail? Bet it is cheaper to get him a job. Sounds like a program the sheriff should be funding as a way to reduce crime. Oh I forgot, no photo literature!

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...f3807811200.txt

Fund used to benefit sheriff personally

Published: Friday, March 12, 2010 4:27 PM CST
Recent letters from Rick Hawkins, Clay Turner and Karen Lile require rebuttal. I have never questioned the vast majority of the spending of the commissary fund. My focus has been only on the expenditures that bring the sheriff personal or political gain. Examples of this spending are advertisements in athletic and other programs and yearbooks featuring his photo and other expenditures for steak fries, car shows and personal lunches.

If any of these writers had taken the time to refer to Indiana Code 36-8-10-21, I doubt their positions would be the same. I challenge anyone to find “donations” or “advertisements” listed among the many proper uses of the commissary fund. In fact, let me be the first to offer a cash reward to the first county resident who can find either word used in that code. I don’t question the value of any causes; however, the sheriff is in possession of an e-mail from the State Board of Accounts dated Nov. 25, 2009, that says “these funds cannot be used for personal purposes including donations and other disbursements that may be for good causes.”

The sheriff’s argument that he is just supporting these teams is laughable when the facts are examined. Ask him how much he has given to women’s sports teams, non-revenue sports or groups like theater, band, chorus or the Soul-Steppers. The common link for his team donations is the benefit to him. As a former coach, assistant athletic director and truant officer, I can assure you that any activity of a positive nature would help reduce absences and behavior problems which often lead to juvenile delinquency. Again, if you read the Indiana Code, you will see the words “an activity or program of the sheriff’s department….” Does the sheriff now argue that the La Porte football, basketball, wrestling or baseball teams are products of his department?

As for the allegations of hypocrisy because I voted to help fund Cornerstone to Cornerstone, I don’t see any comparison. I voted in a public meeting with at least three others to approve and we are not getting our picture in any ad because of it. Also, I distinctly remember the sheriff supporting the program by saying it would cost more to keep a person in jail and he was confident this program would keep someone out of jail. I used his input to help guide my decision.

As for the 4-H program, I firmly believe in its value to the entire county and am aware that 1,383 students participated in 2009. Again, a vote was held in a public meeting and no councilman or woman had their picture in the program for personal or political gain.

Let me now take the opportunity to encourage any voter that thinks the sheriff has used the funds in a legal, moral and ethical manner to please vote for one of my opponents who agree with you. A poster in a school building that I mentor in weekly says it best, “Focus on what is right, not who is right.”

Earl Cunningham

La Porte

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...06406178385.txt

Council donations didn’t get them photos

Published: Sunday, March 14, 2010 10:43 PM CDT
In all due respect to Karen Lile [“Cunningham and Council donate money themselves,” Thursday], I don’t think their donations to the various organizations you mentioned came with their names and individual photos of each council member. Please read before you write.

Lamar Sims

Michigan City

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...66385602697.txt

Councilman still wants info from sheriff

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Friday, April 23, 2010 4:14 AM CDT
LA PORTE — County Councilman Earl Cunningham said it’s been more than 90 days since he asked Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer for an itemized list of expenditures from the jail commissary fund, and he still hasn’t received them.

“He’s supposed to provide the records within a reasonable amount of time after the request,” Cunningham said Tuesday.

Cunningham has vocally opposed Mollenhauer’s use of jail commissary funds to buy advertisements containing his picture and name in area sports programs and yearbooks. Nearly $13,000 of the money went to fund those advertisements, as well as various promotional items the Sheriff’s Department hands out.

Mollenhauer said Cunningham is only trying to make waves before the election because he supports Mollenhauer’s opponent, Sheriff’s Capt. Dick Buell.

“He’s trying his darndest to create any kind of misconception,” Mollenhauer said. “It’s just political.”

Indiana Code does not address the exact length of time a government agency may take to fulfill an open records request. It only says they must acknowledge the request within seven days, or it will count as a denial of the request.

Mollenhauer acknowledged Cunningham’s Jan. 4 request four days later by e-mail, saying he would “make a more specific response in the near future.”