We now know the name of the special prosecutor recently appointed in the St. Joseph County commissioners’ investigation of the DuComb Center and its former director Sharon McBride.
St. Joseph Circuit Judge John Broden has appointed Bloomington attorney Chris Gaal to determine whether McBride should be charged with any crimes. Broden’s staff Friday released the cause numbers in the case, allowing the public to know the special prosecutor’s identity.
The Republican-led commissioners say their investigation, aided by the Indiana State Police, has been finished and awaits a prosecutor’s review. Among other things, the commissioners, who fired McBride, want a review of how McBride had employed her mother at the DuComb Center, paying her enough overtime to make her one of the county’s highest-paid employees.
McBride has cited a state law that requires the center to be staffed by at least one female at all times, and has said it had been hard to find staff for that role.
McBride is a Democratic South Bend Common Council member, and county Prosecutor Ken Cotter, a Democrat, petitioned the court to appoint a special prosecutor to remove any appearance of a conflict of interest.
Gaal, like Broden, a Democrat, was the elected Monroe County prosecutor for three terms from 2007 through 2018, and before that he served on the Bloomington City Council for six years.
Cotter also asked for a special prosecutor to review whether charges should be filed against Marvin “Joe” Layne. He’s the county Republican Party vice chair who police say battered Republican County Council member Dan Schaetzle at a November monthly party meeting.
In that case, St. Joseph Superior Court Magistrate Eric Tamashasky also has appointed Gaal as special prosecutor.
