Special prosecutor assigned to sheriff case
A special prosecutor has been appointed in the misuse of funds case involving Putnam County Sheriff Mark Frisbie.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Joseph R. Buser accepted the appointment as special prosecutor following a request by Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter.
The request outlines a conflict that exists in Bookwalter exploring the allegations against Frisbie.
In the request, Bookwalter said, "The institution of criminal charges by me would be in violation of my professional ethics as a practicing attorney in the State of Indiana and would also give the appearance of impropriety to the general public."
An investigation was originally launched in December after the State Board of Accounts found $4,400 in missing and misspent money linked to the sheriff in an audit.
These "unallowable" expenses include $800 for first-class airline tickets to a sheriff's conference in Orlando, Fla., $600 for a limousine tour of Washington, D.C., $450 for "I support Sheriff Frisbie" campaign materials during election time and a $100 business lunch at Hooters with Frisbie's attorney in Nashville, Tenn.
It was reported in the Dec. 19, 2007 edition of the BannerGraphic that Frisbie paid back the $4,400 out of his own pocket at the request of the officials at the State Board of Accounts.