EVANSVILLE — A special prosecutor has been named in the possible criminal case against Vanderburgh County conservative activist Ken Colbert, who was accused of falsely making a declaration of candidacy in February.
Colbert, whose legal problem stems from his conflicts with local Republican Party leaders, would be prosecuted if any charge is filed by Decatur County Prosecutor Nathan Harter, who also serves as chairman of that county’s Republican Party organization. Harter unsuccessfully ran for Indiana attorney general in 2020, positioning himself as a staunch conservative. He was elected Decatur County prosecutor in 2014.
Colbert was banned by the 8th District GOP in June 2024 from running for office as a Republican until 2030. But in February he filed his candidacy to be a delegate to the Indiana Republican Party’s state convention, signing a state form attesting that he complies with “any candidate requirements set by my party’s rules to be a candidate for this office.”
Believing Colbert knew he was banned by his party from seeking elected office under its banner, County Clerk Dottie Thomas — the local GOP’s vice chair — notified law enforcement.
Harter told the Courier & Press Friday that he has only just begun to examine the case and has not filed any formal criminal charge against Colbert. It’s not a sure thing that he will, either.
“I would be happy to let you know after I have filed something, if something gets filed,” Harter said.
The Decatur County prosecutor declined to comment further. Colbert did not return a message seeking comment.
A special prosecutor is necessary because Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers’ spouse, Kyhle Moers, is chairman of the local GOP and a bitter political rival of Colbert’s. Diana Moers has said Colbert’s case poses a potential conflict of interest, which she says calls for hyper-vigilance to avoid any appearance of political bias.
There’s history between Colbert and the GOP
Colbert’s ban from the party, which the 8th District Congressional Committee handed down in 2024, came after then-Vanderburgh County GOP Chairman Mike Duckworth accused Colbert of violating a party rule forbidding “gross misconduct affecting the party organization,” an accusation Colbert said stemmed from his public criticism of prominent Republicans, including Indiana state Sen. Vaneta Becker.
Colbert’s stormy history in the GOP includes recruiting dozens of anti-establishment precinct committee members in an unsuccessful bid to remove Duckworth before his term expired in March 2025. After the 8th District committee banned Colbert, he tried unsuccessfully to defeat Kyhle Moers by getting behind another candidate in the contest to choose Duckworth’s successor.
The public ousting of Colbert, coupled with his history of conflict with party leadership, prompted clerk Thomas on Feb. 3 to take the rare step of notifying law enforcement of Colbert’s sworn declaration that he satisfied all GOP requirements to run for delegate.
According to Colbert, Kyhle Moers previously indicated he would not contest his eligibility to seek elected office. In an interview, Colbert described having a face-to-face conversation with Kyhle Moers at a September memorial event honoring slain conservative leader Charlie Kirk in which the pair discussed party politics.
“He (Kyhle Moers) comes over and starts talking to us, and we have a conversation,” Colbert recalled. “We told him all kinds of things. And then I said, ‘Kyhle, are you going to have a problem, now that we have new leadership, if I run for office?’ He said, ‘Oh no, Ken, I have no problem with this.'”
Kyhle Moers doesn’t deny that he spoke to Colbert at the memorial, but he says he never signed off on Colbert running for office as a Republican — a decision Moers said he couldn’t make even if he wanted to. Colbert’s ban was handed down by the 8th District Republican Congressional Committee, not the Vanderburgh County GOP.
Nonetheless, Colbert’s insistence that the conversation happened and that it influenced his decision to run for delegate could become a focal point for his defense should Harter move forward with charges. The core facts of the case are not in dispute: all sides agree Colbert filed to run for delegate and that he attested to satisfying all party requirements.
But to be convicted of “falsely making a declaration of candidacy,” the state must prove Colbert “knowingly” signed the filing under false or fraudulent pretenses, which Indiana’s criminal code deems a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000.
Colbert has vowed to fight whatever charges may come his way.
Controversy and Ken Colbert are old friends
In 2024, then-County Clerk Carla Hayden resigned the position 10 weeks before a presidential election she was going to run as the county’s chief elections officer. Why? Hayden, a Republican, said she couldn’t face running another election involving Donald Trump after months of what she called harassment by a tiny but “relentless” band of pro-Trump individuals demanding confidential voting records and threatening to come to polling places.
The veteran elections supervisor had declined to name the persons she said were bothering her, but Duckworth pointed the finger at Colbert. Hayden then confirmed Colbert was “exhibit A” for the group.
Colbert’s attempt to put his name on the ballot this year isn’t his first.
He unsuccessfully sought an at-large seat on the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. school board in 2022. In 2024, he was elected without opposition to a seat on the party’s 135-member precinct committee. He also was elected a delegate to the GOP state convention that year, finishing 10th among 24 candidates to make the list of top 10 finishers.
It was those positions from which Colbert was removed by the 8th District GOP committee in June 2024.
About a week after the May 2024 Republican primary, Colbert sought to succeed Hayden as county clerk, running in a closed GOP caucus for the right to serve the remainder of her unexpired term. Republicans chose former Clerk Marsha Abell Barnhart instead.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Special prosecutor named in case of activist accused of falsely filing for office
Reporting by Thomas B. Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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