St. Joseph County Commissioners say their investigation of the DuComb Center, the county’s community corrections program, has been sent to a special prosecutor, but the prosecutor’s identity remained a mystery.
The DuComb Center houses programs like work release and home detention. Last February commissioners announced they were launching an investigation into accusations of wrongdoing by DuComb Center Director Sharon McBride. They later fired McBride, who’s also a Democratic South Bend Common Council member.
The Republican-majority commissioners Wednesday released a three-sentence statement saying they had turned over their findings to the Indiana State Police, who conducted a lengthy investigation. It says that a special prosecutor has been appointed to review the matter.
Who’s the special prosecutor? Republican commissioners President Carl Baxmeyer said he didn’t know. He referred WVPE to county attorney Phillip Garrett.
Garrett did not respond to our interview or information requests Thursday. Neither did the other Republican commissioner, Tony Hazen.
A spokeswoman for St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter says he asked Circuit Judge John Broden to appoint a special prosecutor. Officials in Broden’s office did not respond to information requests.
If you have any information on who the special prosecutor is, please contact us at wvpe@wvpe.org.
