Floyd County GOP details steps it's taken since Jamey Noel was charged

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Floyd County, Indiana Republican Party distanced itself from Jamey Noel this week, and outlined steps it has taken since he was charged. 

The former Clark County sheriff is facing 25 felonies for allegedly spending nonprofit firefighters association money on himself and his family without declaring it as income, using jail employees to do personal jobs for him on county time, transferring vehicles to himself from the sheriff's office and more.

Local party chair Heather Peters, vice chair Nick Vaughn and Secretary Diana Topping sent a letter to nine news organizations Monday night. They said they wanted to deal with the Noel investigation internally, but that was no longer possible.

RELATED: Prosecutor has 'concerns' someone is leaking sealed information to Jamey Noel and family

"Over the last several months, there has been a perception that the Floyd County Republican Party (along with other local county Republican party committees) sat idly by and did nothing as these details surfaced," the letter said. "This is simply untrue."

On Jan. 19, a spokesperson for the Indiana statewide Republican Party told WHAS11, "We understand that this is an ongoing investigation. Those named are innocent until proven guilty. We are in communication with local grassroots leadership."

Floyd County Republican leaders said as Noel's charges began to mount, they had internal discussions about removing him from these positions, and it resulted in them and several other local county GOPs sending Noel a letter asking him to step down.

RELATED: Family members file to reopen estate Jamey Noel was in charge of due to fraud

"The end result of these discussions was a letter to Mr. Noel signed by our leadership and the leadership from a majority of the other local Republican committees in the Ninth District calling for Mr. Noel to resign his leadership positions in Clark County and the Ninth District," the letter said.

Indiana GOP spokesperson Griffin Reid confirmed to WHAS11 Tuesday afternoon that Noel did indeed step down. 

Amanda Lowery, the chair of the Jackson County GOP, is now listed as the 9th Congressional District GOP Chair.

Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.

Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.