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19 hours ago
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Indiana GOP Sen. Mike Bohacek charged with DUI months after incident
Sen. Mike Bohacek, right, talks to Sen Greg Walker, R-Columbus, on the Senate floor on Jan. 23, 2025. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Charges are pending against Republican Indiana Sen. Mike Bohacek for a January drunk driving incident that remained under wraps for months — shielded by legislative immunity during the 2025 session. Bohacek, of Michiana Shores, was stopped by police on Jan. 24 after a citizen reported him 'drinking an open container and stumble out of his vehicle' at a Panda Express in Michigan City, according to charging documents obtained by the Indiana Capital Chronicle. He was later pulled over near Swan Lake Cemetery on U.S. 20, where he refused a breathalyzer test. Police then took him to a hospital, where a blood test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.28% — more than three times Indiana's legal limit of 0.08%. But Bohacek wasn't arrested at the time. Under Indiana law, members of the General Assembly are shielded from arrest in most cases during the legislative session — a protection known as legislative immunity. That meant Bohacek's case was kept sealed and the senator remained uncharged for months. Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann, appointed as special prosecutor in the case, said the charges were filed shortly after his office was appointed in May but they weren't made public until Monday afternoon. Two other judges recused themselves and the current Special Judge is LaPorte Circuit Judge Julianne K. Havens. Bohacek did not respond to the Capital Chronicle's requests for comment. A Senate communications staffer also declined to comment, saying the incident 'falls into the 'personal matter' category.' Anonymous rumors about the incident circulated online after the January incident, but details were not publicly disclosed until Monday. Charging documents provided by Germann show that Bohacek was stopped by a Michigan City police officer just before 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 24, a Friday. The senator was allegedly speeding while driving a 2023 Dodge Charger bearing his Indiana legislative license plate. The officer at the scene claimed Bohacek's speech was quiet and slow; that his eyes were 'red, watery (and) bloodshot,' and that he had poor balance and staggered from his vehicle. Charging records additionally note that he was 'covered in food.' Panel advances 15-and-under social media ban Bohacek 'admitted to consuming his prescription medication Tramadol as prescribed prior to driving.' Tramadol is a prescription opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain, often after surgery or for chronic conditions, according to the Mayo Clinic. After refusing a breathalyzer, the senator's blood was drawn at around 4:30 p.m. the same day at Northwest Health Hospital in LaPorte. Results of that test later indicated a blood alcohol content of 0.283%, and no drugs present, according to the charging paperwork. Bohacek was back taking votes in the Indiana Senate chamber the following Monday. Online court records show Bohacek had several prior traffic citations, including ignoring a stop sign; speeding; and driving the wrong direction on a one-way. Bohacek was first elected to the Indiana Senate in November 2016. He represents District 8, which includes Starke County, as well as portions of LaPorte, Marshall, and St. Joseph counties. He most recently served on the Corrections and Criminal Law, Health and Provider Services, and Local Government committees. Before joining the General Assembly, Bohacek served as a two-term LaPorte County Commissioner and was a member of the Michiana Shores Town Council. He additionally works as an enterprise consultant with Echo Global Logistics and owns MSL Services Inc., a company based in Michiana Shores, according to his legislative biography. A specific section in the Indiana Constitution states that lawmakers are immune from arrest during session in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace during the legislative session, as well as while traveling to and from the Indiana Statehouse. The most recent session started on Jan. 8 and adjourned on April 25. Bohacek's charges add to a series of other alcohol-related incidents involving separate Indiana lawmakers. CONTACT US In May 2023, Republican Rep. Jim Lucas was arrested after crashing his vehicle into a guardrail and driving the wrong way on an interstate entrance ramp. Lucas, of Seymour, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident, both misdemeanors. He received a suspended sentence, was placed on probation, and was removed from interim legislative committee assignments. Lucas was reelected for a seventh term last November. Before that, Democratic Rep. Dan Forestal was arrested in 2019 for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, resisting law enforcement, and impersonating a public servant. Forestal, of Indianapolis, died in 2021 after his legislative tenure had ended. In 2009, former Democratic Rep. Dennie Oxley was arrested for misrepresenting himself as a state legislator to avoid arrest for public intoxication and was later convicted. Oxley claimed legislative immunity at the time of the incident, even though he was no longer an elected representative. And in 2002, Republican Sen. Johnny Nugent was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.13%. Voters repeatedly re-elected Nugent until he retired from the Indiana Senate in 2014. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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4 days ago
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FSSA secretary: Braun administration ‘inherited a mess'
FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob addresses a crowd at the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute's 2025 Policy Summit on May 30, 2025 to discuss the agency and Medicaid policy. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle) When it comes to the Family and Social Services Administration — which oversees Medicaid alongside other state programs like child care subsidies — Gov. Mike Braun 'inherited a mess,' FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob said Friday. Roob is taking his second turn leading the agency, which has the single largest budget due to its federal funding. Previously, he led FSSA under former Gov. Mitch Daniels. Donning his now-standard 'Make Medicaid Boring Again' hat, Roob said the state had 'no other choice' than to make the program more sustainable and fiscally sound. He spoke at the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute's 2025 Policy Summit in Indianapolis. 'Very few people wear — other than (President) Donald Trump — wear their job description on their hat, but I do,' said Roob. 'That is our task for the next four years.' House GOP overwhelmingly votes to impose Medicaid work requirements Under Daniels, Roob launched the earliest version of the Healthy Indiana Plan, which covers moderate-to-low-income Hoosiers but has grown since its first iteration. HIP 3.0, on the other hand, would return to its roots and 'inject personal responsibility for able-bodied adults again,' Roob said, putting it into alignment with federal discussions on work requirements for the Medicaid program. Also in his first term, Roob said the agency conducted monthly finance reporting and other fiscal checks to tamp down on spending. He said departing from that norm in subsequent administrations is when the program went awry, pointing specifically to cost growth for applied behavior analysis therapy and attendant care. The former is a treatment sought by some parents with autistic children while the latter is a program that previously allowed parents to be paid as caregivers for their children with complex medical needs. '… that lack of accountability, that lack of paying attention to the dollars is why we had ABA therapy growing at a pace that we did. It's why we had attendant care growing at the pace that it did,' said Roob. 'It's very difficult to put that genie back in the bottle here because, in both of those cases, we had created, inadvertently, a dependency.' He never specifically named former Gov. Eric Holcomb in his criticism. In 2019, Indiana's Medicaid program spent $120 million on ABA therapy, but the program ballooned to $639 million by 2023. In response, Braun established a panel to consider cost controls earlier this month. 'If you think this is sustainable, you're budgeting at the federal level,' quipped Roob. 'Because this will bankrupt Indiana.' Similarly, attendant care costs for parents of disabled children grew rapidly during that time span. Roob said the agency spent $11 million monthly in July 2020 but the number soared to $84 million each month by May 2024, when the agency diverted parents to a structured family caregiving program that paid at a lower rate. Combined, Roob said those numbers contributed to a December 2023 state forecast determining Indiana was $1 billion short in its Medicaid budget. Providers, seniors continue to experience challenges under PathWays program 'Many folks look at the Medicaid program and they go, 'How did you get in debt a billion dollars?' Well, it's because you have so many more people receiving care and help. Because we are paying so much more for very discrete parts of the agency,' Roob said. Another program that transitioned care for elderly Hoosiers from state oversight to a contract with insurers — known as managed care entities — would 'never' be something he would pursue, said Roob. 'I have been quite clear this program … I never would implement (it),' said Roob. 'Because it's very difficult for managed care companies to manage the care of individuals who are in nursing homes. What is the value?' Early pitches said the PathWays to Aging program would deliver savings because the state would pay a flat fee for Hoosiers and private companies would manage their care, rather than Indiana paying piecemeal for every cost. However, the transition to get there 'is very difficult,' Roob said. 'We have not, today, seen the results that we are hoping for,' said Roob, adding that the state will pay $300 million extra to the companies in cost overruns this year. '… it's been painful for everybody involved so far and that pain shows signs of easing — but only signs.' Roob didn't limit his criticisms of previous administrations solely to health care programs, also saying there was 'a lack of planning' when it came to the state's child care options. Roughly 75,000 children currently receive some form of child care through the agency, an increase initially funded by federal pandemic dollars, Roob said. 'Their plan was in April of this year simply to take children off of the child care program with no particular warning,' asserted Roob. 'Gov. Braun and the legislature felt that was probably not the best answer, so they have allowed us to create a slope to slowly dr0p people from the child care program. 'That doesn't minimize the fact that we're losing over 20,000 daycare slots for the children of men and women who make below 127% of the poverty level,' continued Roob. CONTACT US Additionally, the 'lack of planning and forethought by our predecessors' meant that there would be even fewer options for parents seeking child care for infants or one year olds. Part of the problem with Indiana's Medicaid spending can be attributed to the state's high health care costs, an explicit priority for Braun. Since his tenure under Daniels, Roob said the disparity between what Hoosiers pay and what they receive has worsened. 'When Gov. Daniels was in office, I used to tell people that Indiana residents were buying a Cadillac and getting a Chevrolet,' Roob said. 'Unfortunately, today, we're no longer driving Chevrolet. We are driving a used Kia.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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4 days ago
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Indiana public access office goes quiet amid turnover
The entrance to the Office of the Public Access Counselor's Government Center South suite on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Another agency, which previously occupied the now-vacant work areas within view of the door, relocated years ago. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Tippecanoe County resident Pamela Frazee just wants to know if her messages went through. Phone calls to Indiana's Office of the Public Access Counselor (PAC) route directly to a voicemail box and aren't returned. Emails — including allegations of public access law violations that the office weighs in on — go unacknowledged. No opinions from this year are online. Frustrated Hoosiers report the office has gone mum after a leadership shake-up. 'It's not been a good transition at all if you don't even have people who can answer the phones,' said Frazee, who sought confirmation that her time-sensitive complaints were received. Former PAC Luke Britt, who ran the office for about 12 years under previous Govs. Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb, announced plans to resign mid-February, WFYI reported. In late March, new Gov. Mike Braun named Indianapolis attorney Jennifer Ruby as the successor. The office has one other employee, Kyra Helming, listed in the state's transparency portal. Britt, the state's longest-serving PAC, pointed to an 'overwhelming' workload in a niche area of law. 'I don't envy what she's having to deal with right now at all,' he said. 'It's not my place to give her the benefit of the doubt. But I certainly do.' Braun's administration, meanwhile, pinned blame on him. 'When Gov. Braun's public access counselor appointment began in March, she inherited dozens of cases from 2024 that were not finalized,' Governor's Office spokesman Griffin Reid said. 'With that backlog successfully addressed, she is focusing her efforts on the 2025 cases and the statutory responsibilities of the office. Gov. Braun is fully committed to transparency at all levels.' The Capital Chronicle requested comment from Ruby's office May 9 and in the past week, but didn't receive a response from her. No one answered the door when reporters showed up. The PAC provides guidance on state public records and open meeting laws. The officeholder responds to informal inquiries on the laws, issues non-binding advisory opinions and educates officials and Hoosiers on their rights and responsibilities, according to the website. The Indiana General Assembly created the office in 1999. For Frazee, who filed two formal complaints mid-May and hasn't heard back, the 'PAC clock is ticking.' Formal complaints must be filed with the office within 30 days of either an agency's denial of records access or notice of an improperly held meeting. A complaint is considered filed on the date it is received, according to the office's public access law handbook. Once a complaint is accepted, the PAC notifies the alleged offending agency and gives it 20 business days to respond. 'Do I need to resend it? Did you assign it? Did you toss it?' Frazee worried. She said a confirmation that a filing has been received — 'always' sent during Britt's tenure — would provide reassurance 'that I have submitted the PAC complaint in a timely fashion, where I don't have to worry about it being tossed.' Keeping up with demand proved a challenge, per Britt. The workload grew annually, 'sometimes by an exponential amount.' And 'volume-wise, it was even overwhelming for me at times, just trying to keep it all straight, be responsive,' he recalled. He said 'constituent relations' — responding to Hoosier queries — was his top priority and became his workday. An influx of 50-100 calls and emails were coming in daily by the time he left, Britt estimated. He described a 'benchmark' for getting messages answered within 24 business hours. Hoosier lawmakers decline to remove public records chief restrictions 'If I had time, or I would take work home in the evenings, to actually write opinions,' he continued. Legislation that went into effect last July 'de-emphasized opinions even more, so I would try to resolve those conflicts informally as much as I could.' House Enrolled Act 1338 limited the PAC to using only the law's 'plain text' — despite statutory ambiguities — and official court orders in writing opinions. Also, the governor can now remove a PAC at any time, instead of 'for cause.' He still wrote opinions, though — and imposed a benchmark for them, too. The goal was to have all of of the the previous year's opinions done before the first quarter of the next year ended. By the time he left, Britt said, he'd distributed the 2024 opinions but hadn't uploaded them online; he hadn't started on the 2025 complaints. His longtime deputy or an administrative assistant would usually handle tasks like uploading opinions. (Only about half those written are uploaded, according to a formal complaint guide.) But both staffers left partway through 2024, as the term-limited Holcomb administration neared its end. Britt said that's when the office fell behind on uploads. He ran the agency solo for nearly a year. Then he resigned. 'I was worried when I left that there would be a lot of loose ends,' Britt said. 'There was a lot of work in progress. There always was. No matter when I left, I knew … I couldn't even begin to wrap everything up with a bow. I did what I could and tried to leave behind as many breadcrumbs as I could, but there was just too much.' He estimated leaving behind 11 pending complaints and recalled Ruby mentioning the backlog had grown to about 40. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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5 days ago
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Gov. Mike Braun: ‘Hoosier safety is top priority'
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun ceremonially signs legislation in his Statehouse office on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. He is flanked by administration officials, lawmakers, law enforcement officers and impacted family. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) It may have been just a ceremonial signing but Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and advocates lauded two public safety bills Wednesday afternoon. Braun signed Senate Enrolled Act 324 and House Enrolled Act 1014, both bills to protect Hoosier families as a part of his agenda, he said. 'Keeping Hoosiers safe is our top priority, and we've secured several wins for public safety this session.' Braun said in a news release. 'These bills will increase the penalty for pushing fentanyl on our streets, help keep police officers safe, and make our communities safer for Hoosier families.' SEA 324, effective July 1, increases penalty levels for crimes involving fentanyl. It also states that a court must consider requiring a person charged with domestic violence to wear a monitoring device as a condition of bail. The bill hits close to home for one Indiana family — the Stoebick's, who attended the bill signing after losing a loved one to domestic violence. Jessica Stoebick, a nurse at Riley Hospital for Children, was murdered by her ex-husband after a history of domestic abuse incidents on Dec. 18, 2023. Her mother, Bobbi Stoebick stood next to Braun as he signed the bill wearing a shirt that read 'I wear purple for my daughter. Stop domestic violence.' Jessica's father and sister also attended. Bobbi Stoebick said she thinks that if her daughter's ex-husband was wearing a ankle monitor, her daughter would have had more time to prepare herself. 'It is baby steps,' She said after the signing. 'Women live in fear everyday, it has to stop.' Braun also signed HEA 1014, which will restrict government entities from hosting or organizing obscene performances. 'That's just common sense,' Braun said about the bill. 'It just isn't what the government should be spending taxpayer dollars on.' During the legislative session, no examples were provided of any such instances. The law also makes it a sentencing aggravator to be in the U.S. 'unlawfully,' as well as having distributed a controlled substance. 'There are no disruptions from the federal border,' Braun said. 'Things are already getting better.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
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6 days ago
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Beckwith debates Hoosiers in chippy town hall
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith answers questions during his May 27, 2025, town hall in Zionsville. (Niki Kelly/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith went toe-to-toe with constituents at a Zionsville town hall Tuesday night — defending his stance on bringing religion into his public post and concerns about 'chemtrails.' About 100 Hoosiers attended the event, though some left as the event stretched to two hours. The night featured numerous interruptions from both Beckwith and those in the audience. Loud boos and noes were repeatedly lobbed. 'If you shoot little snide remarks at me, I might just shoot them right back,' Beckwith said during one exchange. After the event, Beckwith said he considered it a success. 'I'm not trying to win somebody over to my side of the argument. I'm just trying to say, hey, let's dialogue. And I'm going to tell you what I believe, why I believe it,' he told reporters. 'And, you know, I believe people are adults. They can make up their own minds after they hear what I say, and then you can let other people, you know, let their voices be heard as well.' One attendee, Scott Johnson, read several laws and constitutional provisions about religion in government, noting that the U.S. Constitution contains no references to the Bible or Christianity. 'I don't understand how you can swear an oath to the Constitution and then violate it,' he said. 'Your word should mean something, sir.' Another woman told Beckwith, who is a pastor, that Hoosiers are his constituents and not his congregants. His response was to point out God is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence four times. The crowd audibly groaned when Beckwith said the separation of church and state is a myth and that 'we are a Judeo-Christian nation.' One woman, who declined to provide her name, was concerned about the preservation of farmland in Boone County and other areas. 'I too believe in free enterprise, in the capital market, but I also believe that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our land,' she said, specifically mentioning the Indiana Economic Development Corporation buying up land for the contentious LEAP district. Beckwith said he wants Gov. Mike Braun to clean house at the IEDC. 'I don't know if you can save the IEDC at this point because people don't trust it. People have seen the abuse that has gone on,' he said, adding that the LEAP project was 'slammed down the throats of the people of Boone County.' Another speaker pointed to Beckwith's recent peddling of a conspiracy theory that aircraft are nefariously spreading dangerous substances in the condensation trails — so-called 'chemtrails' — they leave in the sky. A second man said this is an issue that concerns him. 'You mentioned chemtrails and that's got my attention,' Alex Sutherland said. 'You look up at the sky today, it doesn't feel like May. It didn't at the Indy 500. I know they are spraying stuff out of those high-altitude jet planes.' Beckwith praised Florida and Tennessee for passing legislation targeting weather modification. And he noted a bill filed in Indiana to levy huge fines on anyone putting chemicals in the air to impact weather. 'I think it's worth looking into,' he said, adding, 'If we find out it's laughable then great.' During the exchange, Beckwith called the crowd 'leftist socialists.' One woman yelled back, 'We're Americans, not socialists.' Property taxes also earned discussion after a man gave examples of inconsistent assessed values in communities. 'We dropped the ball on this,' Beckwith said about the recently passed property tax reform package. He supports limiting property tax payments based on the purchase price of a home but acknowledged the problems can't be fixed overnight. 'It's going to take us longer than just a few months to untangle this mess,' Beckwith said. About 30 protesters gathered outside before the town hall began. Many were carrying signs. One said 'Lt. Gov. Beckwith. This is our state, not your church.' Another said he was '0/5 of a person' — referencing comments he made on the Three-Fifths Compromise. 'Micah Beckwith is harmful to children,' Amy Garman, of Indivisible Central Indiana, told the crowd. She said Republicans have banned books and outed transgender kids 'under the guise of parental rights.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
