Former Wabash Township Trustee Jennifer Teising should not have faced criminal charges, according to an Indiana Supreme Court decision released this week.
The embattled ex-trustee was initially indicted in 2021.
Ex-Wabash Township Trustee Jennifer Teising was found guilty of theft in 2022. During her trial, prosecutors argued that time outside the county during the pandemic constituted her forfeiting her position even as she continued to collect her salary.
That case was first overturned by the Indiana Court of Appeals in late 2022 and is now being affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court. It found that the state was never able to provide evidence that Teising acted with criminal intent.
Specifically, the court wrote that prosecutors could have pursued civil means, as opposed to criminal ones, for removing Teising from office.
In their unanimous decision, the Supreme Court’s judges wrote that the state could provide no evidence that “Teising believed she was no longer entitled to continue collecting her salary for the work she kept performing remotely.”
“Even if we assume Teising stopped residing in the township and therefore forfeited her office as a matter of law (questions we do not decide),” judges wrote. “The State didn’t prove Teising knew she forfeited her office, nor, more importantly, that she knew her paychecks had become ill‐gotten gains.”
Judges concluded that without criminal intent, the case should have fallen under civil, not criminal, law.
Karen Celestino-Horseman represented Teising in court.
“Justice has been served,” she said. “I think that now it's time everyone went on with their lives and started focusing on issues that really matter.”
Celestino-Horseman said she will discuss seeking damages equal to Teising’s lost salary with her client. She pointed out that the time spent on litigation has had an impact on the former Trustee.
“This took years out of Miss Teising’s life,” she said. “Having criminal felony convictions on her record has limited her to what she can do. Now fortunately those will be removed.”
Teising’s case led the Indiana Legislature in 2022 to pass a law to create a new process to remove township trustees. Some Democrats have argued that the new removal process was not necessary.
In a statement, current Wabash Trustee Angel Valentin called on the Indiana legislature to clarify the definition of residency for elected officials so that “our communities are best served by those in whom we've placed our public trust”
“As for our Township,” Valentin continued, “We will continue to move forward as we have over the last two years, diligently working to address many of the concerns that came into public focus during my predecessor's term in office.”
The Tippecanoe County prosecutor did not respond to our request for comment.
