Hello Fellow Patriots,

I have taken on the task of researching and reporting on HB 1130, and the Kernan-Shepard Commission Report.

If you are not aware of this legislation or the Commission, last year Governor Mitch Daniels commissioned a "Blue Ribbon", bi-partisan panel to study methods of streamlining "Local" Government, and appointed former Governor Kernan and Supreme Court Chief Justice Shepard as co-chairs. The result of this commission is the Kernan-Shepard report. Rep. Crooks (I'm not kidding) introduced HB 1130, on January 8, 2008, a measure to study methods of implementing the report recommendations.

Kernan-Shepard report, page 13 (Recommendation #3):

Transfer the responsibility for administering the duties of the county auditor, treasurer, recorder, assessor, surveyor, sheriff and coroner to the county executive. Transfer the varied duties of the clerk to the courts, the county election board and the county executive. Establish objective minimum professional qualifications and standards for certain county administrative functions.

Indiana counties elect a significant number of autonomous or independent county officers: auditor, treasurer, recorder, assessor, surveyor, sheriff, coroner and clerk. Just as common sense would keep one from hiring three separate executives to run a business, it also recommends against hiring 11 or more. The county offices described above carry out what we describe as administrative functions. Purely administrative positions should be appointed. We recommend that, except for the clerk's duties, all these responsibilities be assigned to administrative offices under the county executive. The clerk's court duties should be transferred to the courts; the licensing and similar duties should be transferred to the county executive; and the election duties should be assigned to the election board of which the county executive would be a member.

Everyone is for less government and lower taxes, but I would like to point out that this legislation only reduces LOCAL elected government, and does not remove a single hog from the State-level trough. Our Gov. Daniels, the same fiscal conservative who sold our toll roads to Spain and Australia for seventy-five years (and thereby our children's legacy), the same responsible manager who served as George W. Bush's Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and who advised the President that the "war" with Iraq would only cost fifty or sixty billion dollars, the same civil libertarian who served on the Homeland Security Committee, is now advising us how to cut wasteful and redundant local (only local) government, and still assures Hoosiers that our right to self governance will not be diminished. This can be accomplished by taking away our right to vote on all but one official: the County Executive. When did we start getting more liberties by voting less? This logic came right out of a WalMart ad!

Gov. Daniels, Gov. Kernan, and Chief Justice Shepard

This is not a new idea by any means, as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin had a similar plan: the Politburo and the Supreme Soviet were an extremely streamlined system of government. But even Lenin knew he had to have the appearance of propriety and a peoples voice, so he instituted several levels of "elected" government beneath the Raion (district or county) leaders. The "Commission" wants to cut to the chase and go straight to the Raion. Everyone else except the County prosecutor will be appointed by the Comrade Raion Leader, or "Super Executive" (I'm surprised they didn't use Bush Administration language and refer to the County "Collective" leader as a "Czar").

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Kernan-Shepard report, page 11:

Limit appointed officials to administrative responsibilities, and ensure professional qualifications and performance standards where appropriate.

Too many roles that should require professional qualifications and standards-such as assessor, sheriff and coroner-are in fact elected positions, with few if any requirements for technical or professional expertise. We recommend removing these positions from the ballot and making elected officials responsible for appointing professionals to these roles.

Whose professionals, and why? Most of the aforementioned positions are administrative in nature, and can be performed by ordinary Hoosiers, rather than a few "Elitists". Another recommendation is to drop residency requirements for most appointees. Is that so "Professionals" from outside Indiana could be considered for appointment within the Komosol?

Two elected officials that are critical to maintaining our liberty, and are answerable only to the People, are the County Coroner and County Sheriff. The "Commission" wants to have these two Officials appointed by the "County Executive". Let's examine these two positions, and you determine why the push to change our Constitution, so that these two officers become nothing more than functionaries of the new "centralized power".

County Coroner

Contrary to popular belief, the County Coroner is not a Forensic Pathologist, but has a Law Enforcement function. He supervises the Pathologists, convenes Coroner Inquests, investigates suspicious deaths, and in the event the Sheriff cannot carry out his statutory duties, becomes Sheriff:

IC 36-2-14-4

Duties as county sheriff

Sec. 4. The coroner shall perform the duties of the county sheriff only in cases in which the sheriff:

(1) is interested or incapacitated from serving; and

(2) has no chief deputy who may perform his duties.

As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1980, P.L.125, SEC.24.

IC 36-2-14-5

Service of warrant for arrest of county sheriff; custody of jail and prisoners

Sec. 5. A warrant for the arrest of the county sheriff shall be served by the coroner or any other person to whom it may be legally directed. The coroner, who shall commit the sheriff to the county jail, has custody of the jail and its prisoners during the imprisonment of the sheriff.

As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1.

Relevant Coroner links:

Indiana Code regarding the Office of Coroner

More information on Coroners and Medical examiners throughout the U.S.

Our comrade Commission members would like to narrow the pool of potential candidates for Coroner by requiring each appointee to be a licensed Medical Doctor. I wonder why?

(Kernan-Shepard Commission Report, rationale for recommendation #3).
County Sheriff

Reassigning these functions to the executive officer will create clearer lines of accountability for local citizens and unified policy-setting regarding general operation, staffing, purchasing and other internal management issues. While including the sheriff may be the least anticipated element of our recommendation, we note that no other law enforcement leader is elected within any local, state or federal governments. We do not elect the chief of police or the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It is important that county law enforcement be led by and accountable to the county executive for the same reasons that the remaining administrative county offices should be: It ensures that local government leadership and responsibility are clear, and gives citizens direct access to that leadership.

A Horror Story from Virginia

http://www.newswithviews.com/brownfield/brownfield56.htm

"One such story last month involved the United States Department of Agriculture with the aid of Virginia police raiding a game farm at 5 am, handcuffing the owner and shooting his pigs. The authorities said there was a suspicion of Psuedorabies within the herd. Psuedorabies has been controlled for decades by State Departments of Veterinary Medicine by testing herds and paying indemnity for animals if depopulation is necessary........ Could a local sheriff have stopped this event from happening?

The sheriff is the only law enforcement official with the authority to summon the power of the county. The sheriff has the right, granted by Posse Comitatus, to assemble a militia or posse, and the power to deputize citizens and require them to assist in the keeping of the peace and the enforcement of laws.

The sheriff represents the power of the people; he does not represent the power of the state. When it comes to keeping the peace no one's authority exceeds that of the sheriff. The sheriff of that county not only had the authority; he had the absolute obligation to intercede to protect the constitutional rights of the owner of this farm.

Note the above quote! "The sheriff represents the power of the people; he does not represent the power of the state." How can we live in a national police state if the sheriff knows his authority and carries out his job? This certainly does not fit well into a new form of global governance or even a North American Community.

We must do away with the office of the County Sheriff and allow the State Police, the BATF, CIA, IRS, USDA, FBI, BLM, Forest Service and dozens of other gun toting bureaucrats to control our lives, harass our people and eat out our substance. This new form of government must render the military independent of and superior to the civil power, and is taking place right before our very eyes." - Derry Brownfield, December 28, 2006

In the United States the duly elected Sheriff is the highest Law Enforcement officer of the county and has Law Enforcement powers exceeding that of any other State or Federal Official, and is commander of militia in that county. Thomas Jefferson wrote in his THE VALUE OF CONSTITUTIONS, "The Office of Sheriff is the most important of all the executive offices of the county". The American Sheriff is the oldest form of organized law enforcement. Indiana's first constitution was adopted in 1816 when Indiana joined the Union; it also created the office of Sheriff as an elected official in each county. Although there were Constitutional amendments in 1948 and 1952 that changed the term of office of the Sheriff, the constitutional provisions establishing the office itself remains the same as it was in 1816.

Our comrade Commission members would like to relieve you of the burden of having to vote for County Sheriff, and make the office a position, appointed by, and subordinate to, the County Commissar. Note: Both County Coroner and County Sheriff, will still be fully funded, appointed positions. Where are the savings Mitch? What is the real reason for appointed, rather than elected Sheriffs, Commissars?

"We say that the status quo in local government is simply not good enough. Indiana can either embolden itself, designing new arrangements for its future prosperity, or continue to trudge along under a system of government erected 150 years ago."

If the Comrade Commission members think that our State Constitution is "Outdated" and simply "not good enough", this should give all Hoosiers some insight into how they truly feel about that two hundred and twenty-one year old document known as The United States Constitution.

There are some good, common sense ideas in the report such as consolidation of redundant school districts. But these are actions that should be left to the voters from the affected areas, not by mandate from Indianapolis. Make no mistake my friends; this has nothing to do with saving taxpayer money (did they all wake up in Indianapolis and have a jail house conversion?) and everything to do with stripping us of more liberties! As Benjamin Franklin said: "Half a truth is often a great lie." If allowed to pass, this bill will be the end of re-establishing Indiana State Sovereignty.

One of the often-overlooked benefits of township government (and other local offices) is to get people who would not normally be involved in politics, into the political process, as it aids in creating an active citizenry. Many of the best public servants I have known came out of township government.

I have discussed HB 1130 with my: Indiana House and Senate representatives, County Coroner, County Commissioner, and Township Councilwoman, and all agree it is dangerous legislation. The bill was placed into committee to die for this session. I was warned that there will be attempts to introduce new legislation enacting sections of the report, in a back door move, this session. It most assuredly will be re-introduced in January 2009.

If you would please take the time to Contact your Assembly representatives, Coroner, Sheriff, Commissioner, and inform your neighbors as to what is going on with this bill. Please send me an e-mail with their names, districts they represent, and position on the Kernan-Shepard Commission Report.

This posting is snide, sarcastic, and intended to stir people up. I get real angry when double-speaking politicians attempt to steal my children's and grand children's liberty and freedom. I make no apologies, for I will drop the sarcasm when our elected officials start honoring their oaths of office, and abide by the "law of the land". Remember that "outdated" one-hundred and fifty year old document, and its "archaic" two-hundred and twenty-one year old brother?

Your Brother in Liberty,

S.A.

Links:

The Kernan-Shepard Commission Report

Indiana Commission on Government Reform website

Kernan-Shepard Commission report promotional video