Warrick County Commissioner Terry Phillippe, the last of six public officials or employees to face charges stemming from animal control and health department controversies that ripped through the county’s government and sparked an Indiana State Police investigation that started in late 2023, was found not guilty after a bench trial on Tuesday.
Now every case associated with the probe has either been dismissed, ended in a deal, or culminated in a not guilty verdict.
Phillippe, 56, was tried on charges of official misconduct, a Level 6 felony, and false informing as a Class A misdemeanor. He previously faced a perjury charge as well, but that had already been dropped.
According to court records, Judge Robert Aylsworth found him not guilty on both remaining counts.
Animal control and health department investigations
Phillippe and the two other then-members of the Warrick County Commission – Dan Saylor and Robert Johnson – were all charged with official misconduct and false informing in February 2024 after ISP launched a inquiry into then-Animal Control director Danielle Barnes. They accused her and a subordinate of orchestrating an unlawful pet adoption scheme and mixing county resources with those of Barnes’ animal-welfare nonprofit.
“During the investigation, detectives revealed on Jan. 9, 2023, a donation of a mobile trailer to Warrick County Animal Control from (Barnes’ nonprofit) was accepted by the commissioners,” ISP wrote in a news release on Feb. 8, 2024 – two days after the charges against Phillippe, Saylor and Johnson were filed. “On Feb. 1, 2024, Warrick County Commissioners released a timeline of events during a public news conference, which stated between Dec. 1-4, 2023, the commissioners received limited documentation from the health department regarding Barnes’ conduct.
“Detectives later learned the commissioners had allegedly been investigating Barnes for months.”
ISP also accused the commissioners of ordering the county health department to reopen a swimming pool and “several restaurants” that had been shut down after they failed health inspections.
“The owners of the pool and restaurants were allegedly friends and business associates of the commissioners,” the release stated. “The health department ignored their orders. The health department supervisor was later terminated by the commissioners for allegedly not opening the restaurants, pool, and cooperating with Indiana State Police during the investigation pertaining to the misappropriated funds at the Warrick County Animal Shelter.”
In a news release of their own unveiled on the same day, Phillippe, Saylor and Johnson denied any wrongdoing. Their attorney, Anthony Long, said “look forward to and expect their complete exoneration.”
How the cases wrapped up
In the end, all their cases ended without convictions.
Special Prosecutor Samantha Hurst was brought in from Perry County. Last month, she filed motions to dismiss the charges against both Saylor and Johnson, which Judge Brett Roy confirmed.
Barnes – who faced six charges of her own, including corrupt business influence, two counts of official misconduct, ghost employment and two counts of theft – had her case dismissed in May after she completed a three-month pretrial diversion program.
Susan Broshears, who previously worked under Barnes at Warrick County Animal Control, also obtained a pretrial diversion agreement.
Then there’s former Warrick County health administrator Marlin Weisheit. In June 2024, Hurst charged him with Level 6 felony counts of official misconduct and forgery, as well as two misdemeanor charges of conversion.
Those arose from $9,600 in unapproved payments he reportedly received from the county’s health department around the time of ISP’s investigation. Commissioners later called the matter an “administrative error.”
They’d appointed Weisheit as interim health administrator in December 2023. But according to a news release from Indiana State Police at the time Weisheit’s charges were filed, the parties signed a contract designating Weisheit only as an independent contractor. He wouldn’t be a representative of Warrick County or a county employee. Indiana law states the health officer for Warrick County is responsible for appointing the administrator.
The Warrick County Health Department didn’t consent to hire Weisheit until April 16, 2024, ISP stated. Weisheit’s first day with the health department as an official county employee was April 23. Still, his claims for hours worked between Jan. 2 and Feb. 29, 2024 incorrectly came from health department funds “without the knowledge or approval of the health administrator,” ISP wrote.
In June 2024, commissioners asked the auditor to correct the issue and have the $9,600 come out of commissioner funds instead.
The forgery charge, meanwhile, came after Weisheit allegedly used the health administrator’s stamp “without his approval or authority to transfer funds within the health department’s budget” to pay a lease agreement with Liberty Concepts, INC out of Boonville, ISP said in the release.
The charges against Weisheit were officially dismissed last week. Since they were relatively low-level and Weisheit had no criminal history, Hurst told the Courier & Press in June that she offered him a pre-trial diversion way back in September 2024 “with no fees or special conditions.”
His attorney, Anthony Long, rejected that, but said he’d be fine with a motion to dismiss being placed under advisement. It remained that way for three months, until Judge Greg Granger made things official on Sept. 3.
The Courier & Press reached out to Hurst for comment on Phillippe’s case Wednesday morning.
The District 2 Republican is the only commissioner charged who remains on the board. Saylor and Johnson lost re-election bids in the 2024 Republican primaries.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Warrick County Commissioner found not guilty, capping wide-ranging government probe
Reporting by Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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