Some former public officials in Bartholomew County who have been convicted of misusing public funds have paid back only a fraction of the restitution they owe — even years after court orders.
In some cases, Bartholomew County authorities have had to ask judges to revoke probation, and former elected officials have been sent to jail for failing to pay restitution.
In other cases, state officials have taken legal action to recover stolen funds, but have been bogged down by delays and negotiations with insurance companies.
“Especially with a case that is involving a large amount of money, there’s no question that is going to be difficult to collect,” said Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay. “Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t try. There’s still a victim that has been wronged and is out whatever amount of money we’re talking about. …The larger amount of restitution, I think the more difficult those challenges can be.”
Typically, restitution is ordered as a condition of probation in these types of cases, officials said. Former public officials often receive varying degrees of suspended sentences, and prosecutors can ask judges to order them to serve some jail time for failing to pay restitution.
“If the defendant is not following the rules of that probation, my office typically would file a violation and bring that to the court’s attention so the court can handle that,” Holden-Kay said. “But I mean, like with anything else, you can’t get blood out of a turnip, right?”
Melissa Schultheis
As of Tuesday, former Jonesville Clerk-Treasurer Melissa Schultheis had paid just $7,250 of the $92,478 in restitution that she was ordered to pay to the town of Jonesville in February 2009 when she pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of theft, according to court records. The former clerk-treasurer had been given credit for $13,640 but still owed $71,588.
Court records show that Schultheis made payments from Oct. 28. 2020, to Jan. 13, 2023, in installments of $5. From Oct. 6, 2023 to last week, payments were being made in $150 installments.
Schultheis was accused of stealing $93,648 in public funds by writing checks and money orders out to herself and her husband from January 2001 to June 2007, The Republic reported previously, citing a probable cause affidavit.
She initially received a 15-year suspended prison sentence and was placed on probation for 15 years, according to court filings.
After Schultheis was sentenced, Bartholomew County authorities would end up filing petitions to revoke her probation for failing to pay restitution in 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
In 2016, Schultheis admitted to failing to pay restitution and probation fees and was ordered to spend 30 days of her suspended sentence in the Bartholomew County Jail.
In 2019, a trial court found that Schultheis had violated her probation after operating a motor vehicle without expired plates and no valid driver’s license.
The court ordered Schultheis to serve 10 years of her suspended sentence after also finding that she had failed to perform community service, forged a letter from her doctor to mislead her probation officer and committed obstruction of justice and perjury.
Schultheis appealed the decision to the Indiana Court of Appeals, arguing that the trial court had abused its discretion when it revoked her probation and ordered her to serve 10 years of her suspended sentence. The panel of three Indiana appellate judges unanimously ruled against her.
Clint Madden
In 2020, a federal judge ordered former Wayne Township Trustee and former Jonesville Volunteer Rural Fire Department Treasurer Clint Madden to pay $162,647 in restitution — including $108,269 to the Wayne Township Trustee’s Office and $54,378 to the Jonesville Volunteer Rural Fire Department, according to court records.
Madden pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to two years in federal prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Madden was released Jan. 14, 2022, and served his sentence at a minimum-security satellite camp next to the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute.
In December 2018, former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill filed a lawsuit in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 against Madden, his wife and two insurance companies to recover the funds.
The case dragged on for more than five years amid a series of delays and negotiations between state officials and insurance companies recover some of the misused funds from bonds and insurance taken out on Madden.
The state was able to recover $95,437 from Western Surety and $60,000 from Arch Insurance Company, according to court records.
In April 2024, Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James D. Worton ruled that the state of Indiana was entitled to recover $61,404 from Madden — as well as an additional $366,947 in damages under the Crime Victim’s Relief Act (CVRA).
“Public corruption resulting in the loss of public funds is a serious offense deserving of enhanced damages provided for under the CVRA to have a deterring effect on future conduct,” Worton states in the order.
The Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office said last week that no restitution had been paid in the state case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana did not respond to questions about the amount of restitution that Madden has paid through the federal court system.
Christa Acton
In 2014, former Clay Township Trustee Christa Acton was sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to pay $19,888 in restitution after pleading guilty to five felonies related to related to financial irregularities at the trustee’s office, according to court records.
As of Tuesday, Acton had paid $18,517 of her court-ordered restitution — about 93% — according to court records. She also has paid all of her court and other costs. The payments have largely been made in $100 installments.
A state audit had found that Acton had overpaid herself by thousands of dollars and used township funds to pay her husband’s mowing business at inflated rates, according to a copy of the audit and court records.
The financial misconduct left the township’s finances in disarray and its accounts overdrawn in 2009 and 2010, resulting in the township defaulting on its contract with the fire department.
The township’s fire department received just $15,828 of the $40,000 it had been promised for basic needs, forcing firefighters to rely on community donations and fish fry fundraisers to keep operations afloat, The Republic reported at the time.
Laurie Baker
In 2014, former Clay Township Deputy Trustee Laurie Baker was ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution and $6,188 in court and other fees.
Baker was also sentenced to serve six months in the Bartholomew County Jail, followed by two years of home detention and an additional five years of probation. As a condition of her probation, she was ordered to testify against Acton.
Baker had paid off her restitution and court costs in full in December 2015, becoming on the only only former public official who has been convicted of a crime related to the misuse of funds in the past 16 years to do so, according to court records.
