(GOSHEN) - Two Northern Indiana officials have been sentenced to two years of probation.
Former Elkhart County Clerk Christopher Anderson and his First Deputy Carol Smith were sentenced on fraud convictions for their roles in approving payments for employees for hours they did not work.
Anderson and Smith were indicted in September 2025 on charges of official misconduct and criminal conversion. In September 2024, the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office and the Indiana State Board of Accounts were contacted about some clerk employees that were receiving payment for hours that they didn't work, and that this had been going on for several years.
The Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office says a public report found that Anderson was aware of this practice of paying supervisors for 80 hours, even though they only had to work 72 hours. They also allege that Smith had sent an e-mail to a newly appointed supervisor of the Clerk's Office in August 2022 that they would be paid for more hours than they were actually working.
Anderson plead guilty and Smith was found guilty following a jury trial.