Federal or state criminal charges have been filed against three former Bartholomew County officials regarding corruption that was uncovered in their public service or governmental positions.
The cases against Clint Madden, former Wayne Township trustee and Jonesville Fire department treasurer; Mathew Mathis, former Hope Volunteer Fire Department treasurer; and David Buzzard, former Rockcreek Township trustee, are not new. Irregularities found in State Board of Accounts audits requested on all three have been shared in public over the past year.
What’s new, however, is knowing that behind the scenes the U.S. Department of Justice and other investigative agencies have been looking into these cases to make each public servant accountable for their actions, with a total of $311,809 sought in reimbursement just in Bartholomew County alone. The three local officials are among 15 charged across Indiana.
The failure in safeguards is similar to previous missing-money cases uncovered in Clay Township and the town of Jonesville.
It’s yet one more wake-up call for local government and local fire departments to install and follow reliable checks-and-balance accounting practices when it comes to monitoring revenues and expenses. Failure to do so is inexcusable and costly.
It’s another reason for Indiana to review the township level of government and make changes.
There was an effort in the Indiana General Assembly in the 2018 session to require the smallest Indiana townships to merge with larger ones, but House Bill 1005 died in committee during the short session due to the cost of implementing it.
But there’s also a cost to the township residents and the public trust when problems with township-level government are allowed to continue.
