Owen County commissioner arrested following ISP investigation
SPENCER — An Owen County commissioner turned himself in to authorities earlier this week after he was charged with two felonies and one misdemeanor.
Dale E. Dubois, 82, Poland, faces charges of Level 6 felony official misconduct of a public servant, Level 6 felony conflict of interest and Class A misdemeanor theft.
Indiana State Police Senior Trooper Detective Brad Stille was assigned the investigation on Aug. 9 after requests from authorities to look into possible official misconduct or conflict of interest by Dubois.
Police say the investigation revealed that Dubois directed Owen County employees to conduct repairs to a county-funded roadway to ease access to the adjacent property for potential citizens. It is alleged, however, that the purpose was solely for Dubois’s personal advantage, and all work ordered and completed by county employees failed to have any benefit to Owen County government or its citizens.
After a review of the investigation, Owen County Prosecutor Donald Van Der Moere II asked for a warrant to be issued for Dubois’s arrest. A warrant was issued by Owen Circuit Court on Tuesday.
Dubois surrendered himself to the Owen County Jail later in the evening, where he was held on a $7,500 bond with 10 percent allowed.
Dubois is in the first year of his first term as a commissioner, representing Lafayette, Morgan, Marion and Jefferson townships in the east and southeast portions of the Owen County.
Putnam County’s neighbor to the south has been beset by financial woes, legal problems and infighting among government officials in recent years.
Earlier this year, Owen County officials were pondering how the county had burned through more than $4 million in cash reserves in recent years. To grapple with this reality, the county implemented layoffs and a property tax increase for 2022.
In 2018, former Commissioner Donnie Minnick was sentenced to more than a year of probation for hiding the sale of a truck used on his dairy farm to the Owen County Highway Department as well as pocketing the money on the sale of a broken-down county truck for scrap.
Additionally, in 2015 former Owen County auditor and county council member Angie Lawson was convicted to 20 months in federal prison for embezzling $340,000 in county funds.