MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - A prosecutor sought the removal of an eastern Indiana county treasurer from office Monday after filing charges that allege theft, official misconduct and 44 counts of not depositing public funds on time.
Delaware County Treasurer John Dorer surrendered to state police at the county’s Justice Center in Muncie after the charges were filed in Delaware Circuit Court.
Dorer faced a two-pronged effort to remove him from office: Conviction on just one of the 46 felony counts he faces would bar him from holding elective office, while a civil lawsuit filed by county Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold also seeks his removal for interfering with state examiners, not following their directions and not maintaining accounts as directed by the State Board of Accounts.
The state board requested Arnold “initiate legal action to remove John Dorer from office as Delaware County Treasurer,” the prosecutor said in a news release.
Most of the counts allege the 50-year-old Dorer was late in depositing public funds, ranging for $1,917 to $314,161, within one business day, as required by law, Arnold said. The lone theft count alleges he stole $80 in cash from the treasurer’s office. In addition to the felony counts, he also faces a single misdemeanor count of conversion, or exerting unauthorized control over the property of another person.
“As a result of Dorer’s alleged continued actions and inactions, the State Board of Accounts was unable to complete a financial audit for the year 2012. Accordingly, the State Board of Accounts in unable to state the financial position of Delaware County. Essentially, they were unable to give an opinion as to whether or not any public funds are missing from the County’s treasury,” Arnold said.
Dorer, a Democrat, was elected county treasurer in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.
A message seeking comment was left at a Muncie-area home telephone listing with the same name as Dorer.
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