A county office manager will serve as the new Wayne Township trustee while investigators continue to look into the records of her predecessor.
Brenda Mijares was sworn into her new office at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday by Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps, said county auditor and local Republican Party chairwoman Barb Hackman.
An office administrator for the county prosecutor’s office since 2003, Mijares replaces Clint Madden, who resigned Oct. 3 after six years in office. Mijares will remain township trustee through the rest of Madden’s term, which ends in December 2018.
Although Hackman confirmed last week Madden’s financial records are being investigated by the Indiana State Board of Accounts, both she and a board spokesman said investigators have asked them to withhold further comment until the investigation is concluded.
The appointment of Mijares was approved during a Monday night caucus of three Republican precinct committee members from Wayne Township, Hackman said.
Since township trustee is a part-time job, Mijares will be allowed to continue in her current position for Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash.
Mijares, who also has served as a trustee for the Bartholomew County Employee Benefit Trust since January 2015, has advocated on behalf of more than 400 county employees before the county council on occasion.
In Indiana, the primary responsibility of a township trustee is to provide poor relief to residents who need it most. Other duties including funding volunteer fire departments and maintaining cemeteries.
