Pruitt
By Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
For The Republic
FRANKLIN, Ind. — The Johnson County Coroner has been released from jail after paying bond.
Michael D. “Mike” Pruitt, 60, of Bargersville, paid his $3,000 bond and was released from the Johnson County jail on Wednesday morning, said Chief Deputy Andrew Barnhart of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. Pruitt had turned himself into the jail on Tuesday after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with buying alcohol for a 17-year-old girl. He was later transferred to the Brown County jail for safety and security reasons before returning to Johnson County to pay bail.
Pruitt was initially held at both facilities on a no-bond warrant issued by Hancock County Magistrate Cody Coombs, sitting it for the special judge overseeing the criminal case against Pruitt. The no-bond warrant is standard for Hancock County, and Special Prosecutor Ted Adams of Brown County said his office left the bond line blank on the warrant for the judge to decide.
An initial hearing for Pruitt was held on Zoom on Tuesday, which was not previously listed on online court records until Tuesday evening — after the hearing had concluded. Pruitt pled not guilty, and Coombs set a $3,000 cash-only bond. Two no-contact orders had to be put in place and served before he was able to bond out.
A pretrial hearing is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 9 in Hancock County Superior Court 2, the court of the special judge, Dan Marshall, hearing the case, online court records show.
Pruitt, the county’s elected coroner since 2021, is accused of buying alcohol for a 17-year-old girl and offering her cannabis gummies. The situation was revealed following the filing of a protective order against him by the mother of the teen, who accuses Pruitt of having “inappropriate” contact with her and of harassment, court documents show.
The protective order details 30 incidents of contact between Pruitt, the girl and her mother over the last year or so. The incidents include in-person contact, text messages, emails and phone calls; the messages cover a range of topics and many do not involve providing substances. The protective order also includes comments that suggest Pruitt was having a mental health crisis, which likely contributed to this situation.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office requested that the Indiana State Police investigate Pruitt to avoid a conflict of interest. Fourteen misdemeanor criminal charges — seven charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and seven charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor — were filed in Johnson Superior Court 3 on Friday. The charges were filed by Adams, who has been appointed as a special prosecutor for the case due to a conflict of interest with Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner. Johnson Superior Court 3 Judge Douglas Cummins recused himself because of a conflict of interest, so Marshall is serving as special judge.
The probable cause affidavit filed in the criminal case details seven occasions when Pruitt provided alcohol to the teen girl. The affidavit says he did this several times at a farm, at a Bargersville fire station, a hotel room in Illinois when the two were there for a swine show, and twice at the Johnson County Fairgrounds during the fair earlier this year. These incidents were also referenced in the protective order.
Pruitt was formerly deputy chief of the Bargersville Community Fire Department, though he left earlier this year after being placed on leave for an “internal comment” between him and fire personnel that had nothing to do with any comments that were criminal, sexual or racial made on a scene, he said in June. He has also been a spokesperson for Indiana Task Force 1, though since he left Bargersville Fire, he’s been on administrative leave from the task force, said Rita Rieth, a task force spokesperson and battalion chief and director of media relations for the Indianapolis Fire Department. These comments are unrelated to the criminal charges and protective order.
Pruitt’s name has also been removed from websites associated with Johnson County 4-H. The Daily Journal is still waiting for Purdue Extension to confirm on the record that he is no longer involved with 4-H.
Since news of the allegations against Pruitt first surfaced, protesters have called for Pruitt’s resignation, along with the Johnson County Democratic Party. A petition asking for Gov. Mike Braun to remove him from office has garnered at least 354 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
Pruitt is a Republican. Johnson County Republican Party Chair Beth Boyce said in a statement last week the allegations against Pruitt were “concerning and disturbing.” She said the law doesn’t empower the county GOP, or its chair, to remove a county officer holder elected through the democratic process. Boyce added the party would monitor the progress of any criminal proceedings with the rest of the public.
There are only three ways for a coroner to be removed. Those are removal by the governor, automatic removal in the event of a felony conviction, or if the coroner decides to resign.
The felony route is not applicable in this case.
