The ongoing Indiana State Police investigation into former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel’s financial conduct now includes former Scott County Sheriff Kenneth Hughbanks and his wife, Lyndi.
Noel is facing 25 felony charges; his wife Misty Noel is facing 10 charges. They both pleaded not guilty.
Court documents revealed Noel paid Hughbanks over $262,000 for consulting work between March 2015 and October 2022 using Clark County Sheriff’s Office jail commissary funds. Commissary funds are profits the sheriff’s office raises through the sale of goods to people incarcerated in the jail.
In late November 2023 ISP investigators served a search warrant at Hughbanks’ home and business in Scott County.
Documents released last Wednesday show investigators believe Hughbanks and his wife, Lyndi Hughbanks, failed to report at least $214,700 of income on their taxes over a five-year span, according to the probable cause affidavit
Neither Hughbanks’ have been charged.
Kenneth Hughbanks was appointed Scott County sheriff in April 2018 after his predecessor, Dan McLain, was appointed a US Marshal.
Hughbanks did not run in the 2018 general election. He served out the appointed term then returned to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office where he was given the title of corrections commander until he resigned in December 2019.
He remained at the sheriff’s office however and was paid as a consultant through Hughbanks Enterprises LLC., which he owns. Investigators said Hughbanks’ LLC is not registered with the Indiana Department of Revenue, and that there had never been an income tax form filed for the business in the state.
Indiana State Police Lt. Jeffrey Hearon is the lead investigator on the case.
According to court documents, many invoices for the consulting work lacked a description of services performed.
According to the court document, Lt. Hearon says he obtained information that Hughbanks is not a graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, and a top official in the Clark County Sheriff’s Office suggested Kenneth Hughbanks probably got the job because of his association with Noel, it has been reported.
Noel has served as the Republican Party chair for Clark County and Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Scott County.
Kenneth Hughbanks serves as the Scott County Republican chairman. His wife, Lyndi, is the the secretary of Hughbanks Enterprises LLC and serves as Scott County Council president. After earlier this year filing to seek re-election, she withdrew her candidacy after the filing deadline passed earlier this month.