FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. — Indiana State Police (ISP) claim former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel received at least $2 million in public contracts annually for his various EMS and fire services.
Over the last eight months, the state has been investigating how he used some of that money for personal purchases for himself and his wife, as well as funding a vehicle swapping scheme to enrich himself.
The WHAS11 FOCUS Team has found a severe lack of oversight by public officials who signed Noel's largest contract with the New Albany Township Fire Protection District.
"There was nothing that we had any alarms about as far as not getting the service we were paying for," said Darrell Mills, president of the fire board of trustees.
Indiana state law allows for the creation of "fire protection districts" to provide service in rural parts of the county. The fire board of trustees is tasked with overseeing all contracts in the district.
In July 2016, the district signed a 10-year contract with "Utica Township Fire Department doing business as New Chapel Fire." Jamey Noel signed the contract as chief.
Mills said between 2011 and 2016 there was a 6-year contract with the same entity, and this contract followed the same language. He said the contract length didn't raise any red flags at the time.
"It's kind of like situation where, you know, if you need a plumber or a furnace person, a heating and air guy, you can go on Angie's List and find that," Mills said. "Fire departments don't work like that. There's not that many."
Mills said the contract was also reviewed by their lawyer.
The contract doesn't list a dollar amount, but according to Indiana Gateway, a database of government contracts, Noel's company got $1.13 million in 2017, and has gotten over $7.2 million through this contract since then.
The contract gives the board the power to request financial info at any time, but it also lists two yearly, required financial reports the district is supposed to receive.
The fire department has to turn in a yearly financial report, and the fire district has to approve its yearly budget. FOCUS asked Mills if he remembered receiving and reviewing those reports.
“I think that we do; that's more of a question for our financial secretary," Mills said.
FOCUS called the board's treasurer, Eric Furnish, and he said the district never asked for or received those records prior to him joining in 2018. Furnish hasn't asked for them since 2018 either.
Matt Owen, chief deputy for New Chapel EMS/Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters Association, couldn't confirm or deny if the financial statements were sent, saying "that was something handled at the chief-level."
"But I do know that we're working with the district now to look at that contract, review those terms, and make sure that they have all the information that they need," Owen added.
Both Furnish and Mills point to the fact that they are having their quarterly meetings as required by Indiana law.
"We are having our required meetings. They're not three-minute meetings. They're 30-minute meetings, 45-minute meetings. We're discussing capital outlays and potential capital outlays," Furnish said.
Furnish and Mills said they and the other board members have full-time jobs, and this board appointment only pays $250 per year.
FOCUS asked if Furnish thinks its appropriate to remove him since they haven't been following the contract. He believes the district can prove accurate oversight going forward.
"We've given blood, sweat, and tears since we've set up this fire district and got it in place. We're making $50 per meeting...We're not gonna flee the ship, we're trying to make it right," he said. "We got served a stink sandwich and I feel like we're kind of eating it right now. With that being said, if someone thought it was necessary or best [to remove me] I would turn over the reins."
Owen said the organization is working with the fire board to review the contracts and the terms. He understood there needs to be a very thorough assessment of the services provided under those contracts moving forward.
"We understand completely that all of our stakeholders need to just assess and make sure that we have the best public safety benefits for all of southern Indiana," he said. "And where New Chapel fits in that, you know, we're confident that if we need to make adjustments to better serve the boards that we are contracted with, we are prepared to do that."
The current contract with New Albany Township Fire Protection District runs through 12/31/26. Mills says they are reevaluating it right now to potentially end it early.
"I don't want to make a comment on that right now, I will say we're reviewing the contract to see if there's any violations," Mills said.
Noel's former entities, which operate under different names but were all anchored under "Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters Association" or "Utica Township Volunteer Fire Department", have contracts with four municipalities:
- Clark County
- Floyd County
- New Albany Township Fire Protection District
- Utica Township Fire Protection District
FOCUS has been unable to reach anyone currently or formerly associated with the Utica Township Fire Protection District. According to Clark County Attorney Scott Lewis, the most recently appointed members were Eric Ballenger, Raymond Castleberry and Tim McDonald. Lewis said Ballenger has since retired.
FOCUS did have a brief phone conversation with Ballenger, but he was unwilling to say anything on the record. Castleberry and McDonald have not responded to Facebook messages.
According to Indiana Gateway, the Utica Township Fire Protection District has a roughly $36,000 annual contract with Noel's former entities.
Clark County has a $1.05 million annual contract with New Chapel EMS. The contract requires "all permitted providers shall file an annual audited financial statement" to the county health department. Lewis redirected FOCUS to the health department for answers about if those records are being kept.
Floyd County has a $220,000 annual contract with Utica Township VFA doing business as New Chapel EMS. The only thing required by that contract is to provide an annual report on how many calls New Chapel responds to, as well as response times.
The Floyd County Commissioners didn't respond to questions about any additional oversight, but did send the following statement about the New Albany Township situation:
“The New Albany Township Fire District is an autonomous taxing unit; the Floyd County Board of Commissioners has no jurisdiction, authority or oversight over that board beyond appointment of its members. The Floyd County Board of Commissioners has full confidence in the President and members of the New Albany Township Fire Board of Directors.”
Case Background
The ISP investigation into Jamey Noel started in June 2023 when authorities believed Noel instructed Clark County jail employees to work on his personal and rental properties, and run errands for him while working on county time and being compensated with public funds.
Noel's vast automobile collection has been under scrutiny by investigators since the beginning of the investigation.
According to court documents, 133 vehicles are registered to the Utica Township Volunteer Fire Department and New Chapel EMS. A review of those vehicles showed several were "inconsistent" with a not-for-profit fire department and EMS business.
Among those 24 vehicles are several Cadillacs, Chevrolet Camaros and Chevrolet Corvettes. Last month, Hearon filed additional probable cause affidavits related to Jamey's vehicles.
Jamey was in charge of the UTVFA until he was ousted earlier in January.
In December, investigators accused Jamey of unlawfully purchasing a Cessna airplane.
The investigation also uncovered Jamey fathered a child with former Clark County Councilwoman Brittney Ferree and paid child support payments with UTVFA funds. In court documents, Lt. Hearon stated he discovered nearly $5 million in personal charges made on UTVFA business credit cards.
Noel's wife, Misty was arrested and charged last Thursday on theft and tax evasion charges.
The couple often filed joint tax returns but failed to report tens of thousands of dollars in income from sold vehicles. The probable cause affidavit also cited at least $278,216 in income that was not reported between 2019 and 2022.
Misty was held without bond until Monday's court hearing where she posted her $30,000 bond.
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