Clinton County Sheriff Rich Kelly and wife Ashley.
The Clinton County sheriff and his wife are facing allegations of official misconduct and criminal conflict of interest. Thursday, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office filed a complaint against Clinton County Sheriff Richard Kelly, his wife Ashley, and the jail matron in an attempt to recover public funds that were paid to the couple.
According to court documents, Leonne LLC was contracted to manage commissary operations at the Clinton County Jail. The sole owners of Leonne LLC are the sheriff and his wife. In the Attorney General’s complaint, it states that the couple did not fill out a conflict-of-interest disclosure and failed to disclose their ownership of Leonne LLC. This means the sheriff had a contract with the company he and his wife’s owned.
Documents go on to say Ashley would allegedly write checks from the commissary profits to their company. From January 2019 to September 2021, checks were improperly issued from the Jail Commissary Fund to Leonne LLC, totaling $223,884.53.
Between the couple’s salaries, pensions, disability, and money from Leonne LLC, documents say that the couple made $639,363 in two years.
The complaint goes on to state both Richard and Ashley Kelly each signed under penalties of perjury they would not violate nepotism laws, which included any local ordinances. Documents also note Ashley did not properly document her hours while working as a jail matron and commissary manager.
Criminal charges are pending against Richard and Ashley Kelly in a correlated criminal case. Richard Kelly is charged with one count of Conflict of Interest and three counts of Official Misconduct. Ashley Kelly is also charged with one count of Conflict of Interest and three counts of Official Misconduct.
