FRANKFORT, Ind. – Just days before Clinton County Commissioner Jordan Brewer made the motion for the Board of Commissioners to file suit against Clinton County Sheriff Rich Kelly and Jail Matron & Commissary Manager Ashley Kelly, Commissioner Brewer’s father, Kent Brewer, was resolving a lawsuit filed by Sheriff Kelly.
According to court documents, the elder Brewer, a member of the Clinton County Sheriff’s Merit Board, faced a legal claim by Sheriff Kelly filed on August 31, 2020, asking the Clinton County Superior Court to declare Kent Brewer was in violation of Article 2, Section 9 of the Indiana Constitution – “no person may hold two lucrative offices at the same time.” Kent Brewer was also serving as a member of the Frankfort Utility Service Board at the same time. Brewer later filed a motion to dismiss the suit.
On January 27, 2021, Judge Thomas Busch denied Brewer’s motion to dismiss writing:
“1. A member of the Sheriff’s Merit Board may be removed for cause by a declaratory judgment of the Superior Court. Ind. Code 36-8-10-3(b).
2. No person may hold two lucrative offices at the same time. Ind. Const. Art. 2, Sec. 9.
3. The Complaint herein alleges that Defendant holds two lucrative offices, one of which is as a member of the Sheriff‘s Merit Board.
4. If defendant holds two lucrative offices he is in violation of the Constitutional provision.
5. Plaintiff is the Sheriff of Clinton County.
6. Plaintiff, as Sheriff, has standing to bring a declaratory judgment action under Ind. Code 36-8-10-3 (b) seeking defendant’s removal for cause from the Sheriff’s Merit Board.”
According to a court document dated March 3, 2021, the case was dismissed: “Plaintiff, Richard Kelly, in his official capacity as Clinton County Sheriff, and Defendant, Kent Brewer, and as a result of Kent Brewer’s retirement from the Clinton County Sheriff’s Merit Board hereby stipulate to the dismissal of Plaintiff’s claim against Defendant in this action, without prejudice, with each party to bear its own costs.”
The Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 on March 16, 2021, to bring a suit against Sheriff Kelly and Matron Kelly. The suit was filed on March 19, 2021, with the Commissioners scheduling a special meeting on March 25 to discuss the pending lawsuit.
Sheriff Kelly filed a suit on March 19, 2021, against the Commissioners in a Montgomery County Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment against the Commissioners after the Board voted to amend the county smoking ordinance in an attempt to prohibit inmates from using tobacco-free products at its March 16 meeting.
