Former sheriff whose property was searched in Noel case has lengthy law enforcement, political career

Daniel Suddeath, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

Dec. 14—CLARK COUNTY — A former sheriff and current head of the Scott County Republican Party, Kenny Hughbanks is widely known in Southern Indiana politics.

His name was prominently featured in court documents released Thursday afternoon related to the criminal case against former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel. As of Thursday afternoon, court records showed no arrest or pending action against Hughbanks.

Hughbanks' Scottsburg home was among the properties searched last month by Indiana State Police. Investigators executed additional warrants in the Noel case, as the former sheriff is facing multiple felony charges related to ghost employment, public corruption and theft.

Among the allegations detailed in the warrants released Thursday, Noel is accused of paying more than $265,000 in consulting fees to Hughbanks out of jail commissary funds.

LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREER

According to court documents, Hughbanks was hired as a full-time Clark County corrections officer in 2004. He was moved to the maintenance department in 2006.

In February 2015, a few months after Noel's first term as Clark County sheriff began, Hughbanks resigned to take a private sector job.

In October 2016, Hughbanks was rehired in the office technology section of the Clark County Sheriff's Office. He remained there until resigning in April 2018 after being appointed as Scott County sheriff. He served less than a year in the position and didn't run for election in 2018.

With Noel still sheriff in Clark County, Hughbanks returned to the CCSO where he was appointed major and given the title of the department's operations corrections commander, according to court documents.

Hughbanks resigned in December 2019, but remained as a paid CCSO consultant via Hughbanks Enterprise LLC.

According to Indiana Gateway, Hughbanks was paid $49,602 as a Clark County Sheriff's Office employee in 2019 prior to leaving to become a consultant.

POLITICAL CAREER

Hughbanks was appointed in 2018 as Scott County sheriff to fill the term of Dan McClain, who left the office to become a U.S. Marshall.

ISP Lt. Jeffrey Hearon states in a probable cause affidavit that he spoke with CCSO Chief Deputy Mark Grube in June about Noel and Hughbanks as part of his investigation.

Grube, according to Hearon's statement, told ISP there were several allegations against Noel and Hughbanks, including that the two received millions of dollars in surplus military equipment and kept some of the property for personal use.

They also discussed Hughbanks' stint as Scott County sheriff.

"Chief Grube conjectured the appointment of a Non-Indiana Law Enforcement Academy certified graduate to sheriff was a result of Jamey Noel's vast political influence as the Republican Committee Chairman of the Indiana (9th) District and a reward for the various favors Hughbanks performed for Sheriff Noel," Hearon stated in the affidavit.

Noel is also the chair of the Clark County Republican Party, and Hughbanks is the chair of the Scott County GOP.

It's not the only allegation of Noel using his political power to influence local elected offices.

New Chapel Fire/EMS is at the center of the Noel criminal case. Noel is the founder of the company, which provides services to Clark County and Floyd County outside of New Albany. ISP has accused Noel of trading New Chapel vehicles and keeping the money for personal use.

Floyd County Council President Denise Konkle was censured and banned from running as a Republican for the next five years by the 9th District GOP after she voted in January to buy two ambulances for the Lafayette and Greenville fire districts.

Konkle claimed the disciplinary action was retribution for voting for the ambulances in a perceived slight to New Chapel. Floyd County Republican Party officials claimed the censure was due to a pattern of Konkle voting along with Democrats.

Noel recused himself from the 9th District GOP vote on the issue. Floyd County Republican Party chair Heather Archibald-Peters was later retained by New Chapel as the company's attorney.