Reports · Grant County, IN
The Grant County Record
Every meeting we have indexed across Grant County's public bodies, in one place, narrowed by who was sitting and by what they were discussing. Each entry opens the recording at the second it happened. Timestamps were located in automatic captions, which garble names and numbers badly, so the recording is the record and this page is a way in.
Updated September 2, 2026
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The Grant County Record
County Commissioners · All moments · 55 moments
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55 moments
Sep 2, 2026 · County Commissioners · Special session
- 4:26Sep 2, 2026Poling abstains on releasing the report about himselfKeyThe first motion is to make the final report public. Commissioners Oliver and Middlesworth vote for it. "I'll abstain. This is about me."
- 5:08Sep 2, 2026The report goes on the county website with its evidenceConsulting county attorney Edward Ormsby says the full report will be posted directly after the meeting "along with supporting evidence, which I encourage all to review," and that about 45 minutes of it will be read aloud first.
- 6:54Sep 2, 2026Which commissioners ordered the investigationThe reading states that county human resources notified county legal in the last week of July 2026, and that Commissioners Shane Middlesworth and Ron Stewart then directed the legal department to have an outside investigation conducted. The county attorney was recused for having previously represented Poling.
- 8:20Sep 2, 2026What the report says Poling said when asked to respondKeyThe report describes a 14-minute call on August 23 in which Ormsby outlined preliminary findings. It states that Poling cursed, yelled and cut him off, said he knew who the witnesses were, said that they would all be gone, said "Get ready for hell," and hung up.
- 8:45Sep 2, 2026Seven categories of alleged criminal misconductKeyDrawing on interviews with 15 witnesses, the report groups its allegations as intimidation and threats; illegal surveillance and wiretapping; official and financial misconduct and conflicts of interest; vote buying, bribery and election misconduct; retaliation; HR matters involving ADA, FMLA and confidentiality; and abuse of power, nepotism and preferential hiring.
- 13:29Sep 2, 2026A clerk's account, and the video the report citesCounty Clerk Pam Harris told investigators that on July 1, 2025 Poling yelled at her and came close enough that she raised her fist to her chest defensively. The report states video from that date shows him escorted from the building by deputies, and that nine contemporaneous witness statements were collected.
- 15:35Sep 2, 2026An elevator encounter, and the firearm ordinance that followedAn employee reported that around January 30, 2025 Poling opened his coat and said he almost pulled his gun on her; she said she saw no gun but found the gesture threatening. Witnesses connected the account to later concern over a policy allowing commissioners to carry firearms in county buildings.
- 25:12Sep 2, 2026IT is told to switch on the HR camera's microphoneKeyIT manager Marcus Elliott told investigators Poling asked him to enable audio on the HR office camera and not to tell anyone, saying he wanted to know whether the county administrator and HR coordinator were going to leave. Help desk records date the request to July 31, 2026, days after the investigation began. Elliott said he opened a ticket anyway to document it.
- 27:08Sep 2, 2026A camera log with 4,870 events over three monthsKeyThe report says Poling's user log on the county camera platform records 4,870 events between May 21 and August 24, 2026, including 349 viewing sessions of the camera covering the administrator and HR office, and 137 audio change events. It states each audio access is a potential violation of the federal wiretap act, which carries up to five years per violation.
- 30:23Sep 2, 2026Legal turns the audio off; it is back on by MondayKeyCounty legal directed IT to disable audio on all cameras on August 20. The report states that the next afternoon Poling instructed a second IT employee to restore it, in wording that employee understood to imply other commissioners had agreed. The report states no such vote occurred. The audio came back on Monday morning.
- 30:29Sep 2, 2026A directive that IT withhold records from legalKeyThe same IT employee told investigators Poling instructed that no information or documentation related to the investigation be shared without two commissioners' approval — a barrier the report says would have applied even to requests from HR or the county's own legal counsel, while Poling was the subject of the investigation.
- 33:29Sep 2, 2026$56,630 in invoices from a commissioner's own businessKeyThe report cites invoices from February 2025 through June 5, 2026 for plumbing and drain work by Poling's business, described by the county administrator as round-number bills with limited detail. It states that on at least two occasions county maintenance employees were paid, including overtime, on the same projects and time frames, and that Poling generally did not abstain from approving claims that included payments to his business.
- 36:44Sep 2, 2026A raise offered in exchange for a vote, per the reportKeyAn assessor's office employee told investigators that Poling brought a commissioner candidate through during working hours, moved off camera and said close to her ear, "If you vote for this guy, you'll be able to get a raise." She said she replied that she only votes in presidential elections. The report says camera video from March 24, 2026 confirms her account of the interaction.
- 37:45Sep 2, 2026The data center listening sessions, in the county administrator's accountKeyThe report states that county-funded listening sessions on a feasibility study for development near I-69 and State Road 26 became campaign events, on her account, after Poling asserted control over the meeting and urged attendees to vote for certain candidates if they opposed data centers. She said the county stopped funding the sessions after they became, in her words, "campaign things" and "a campaign circus."
- 41:27Sep 2, 2026The recommendation: strip individual controlKeySubsection 8.6 asks the board to remove Poling from any individual control over county administration, maintenance, HR, IT, the surveillance systems, investigative materials, claims, contracts and personnel decisions, citing the statute making the board of commissioners the county executive rather than any individual commissioner. Camera audio is to stay disabled.
- 44:44Sep 2, 2026Referral to the state police and a conflict-free prosecutorKeyThe report recommends sending the complete report and evidence to the Indiana State Police and to a prosecuting attorney without a conflict, and says that if the Grant County prosecutor has an actual or apparent conflict, a special prosecutor should be requested.
- 45:03Sep 2, 2026Referral to the FBI and the U.S. AttorneyKeyThe same materials are to go to the FBI's Indianapolis field office and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, named against potential public corruption, bribery, election coercion, unlawful surveillance and wiretapping, misuse of office, financial offenses, civil rights violations and obstruction.
- 45:32Sep 2, 2026Referral to the State Board of AccountsA third referral asks the state's auditing body to review financial, payroll, equipment, procurement, conflict, ghost employment, property conversion, fraud and public funds questions. The Attorney General is named as a possible fourth.
- 48:17Sep 2, 2026"This investigation is not about politics"Ormsby addresses Facebook posts made before the meeting by people he describes as political allies of Poling who tried to discourage publication. He says the public has a right to know whether county power, funds, employees, technology and offices were used for private, political, retaliatory or unlawful purposes.
- 51:58Sep 2, 2026The board adopts the recommendations; Poling votes noKeyCommissioner Chris Oliver moves to adopt subsection 8.6 in full and Commissioner Ron Stewart, presiding, seconds it. Poling is recorded opposed. The motion carries. Oliver had joined the board only weeks earlier, replacing Shane Middlesworth, who ordered the investigation and then resigned in August while it was still running.
- 52:15Sep 2, 2026Offered the floor, Poling says nothingAsked directly whether he would like to speak or say anything, he declines. The session is adjourned with a request that a full room be cleared in an orderly manner.
Aug 17, 2026 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners
- 1:18Aug 17, 2026Commissioner Middlesworth has resigned his seatKeyThe presiding commissioner says Commissioner Middlesworth resigned a couple of weeks ago to spend more time with his family, and thanks him publicly for his work as commissioner and as county council president. The meeting proceeds with two commissioners seated.
- 3:43Aug 17, 2026No FEMA workers are in Grant County right nowKeyThe EMA report has county personnel deployed to Madison County for flood damage assessments, and relays a FEMA notice: no FEMA representatives are currently working in Grant County, and anyone at the door claiming to be one should be reported to local law enforcement.
- 4:28Aug 17, 2026A month at dispatch: 4,776 police callsMonth-to-date dispatch figures: 3,225 phone calls, 4,776 police calls, 391 fire calls and 600 EMS calls. The center has two openings, with three candidates interviewed over the past two weeks.
- 14:10Aug 17, 2026Federal aid lands for the Branson Street bridgeKeyA state letter awards federal aid for the Branson Street bridge replacement — a project the highway superintendent puts at almost $10 million in all, with the county paying 20 percent of construction plus inspection costs and being reimbursed 80 percent, after about four or five years of trying.
- 16:15Aug 17, 2026Marion's 14th Street bridge heads for a state grantThe highway department gets the go-ahead to apply to the Community Crossings grant, opening September 1, for bridge 791 on 14th Street in Marion; two of the three properties involved have been acquired, and the county's signature for its half of the cost comes at the next meeting.
- 17:22Aug 17, 2026A 45-day closure is coming to State Road 18KeyThe state's recommended detour for a 45-day closure of State Road 18 — 600 West to 200 North and back down to 700 West — is approved and signed. The closure is for redoing the bridge deck near Pike Creek.
- 18:57Aug 17, 2026Two new trucks for the highway departmentThe highway department is approved to order two Ford pickups if they can be built within 8 to 10 weeks, and otherwise to buy two Chevrolets from a Gas City dealer. Two used trucks would go to the EMA, and trade-ins are held back for negotiation.
- 21:43Aug 17, 2026Insurance will cover the storm-damaged salt barnThe salt barn was damaged in a storm a couple of weeks earlier; after meeting with the adjuster, the highway superintendent is cleared to order the repair, with insurance paying one check up front and another at completion. Whether the salt and sand underneath were damaged waits until the pile is moved.
- 23:00Aug 17, 2026Health department replaces a totaled vehicle for $24,929An employee was hit in a county vehicle in June and insurance totaled it; the board takes the lowest of three quotes, $24,929, from a Gas City dealer the health department has bought from before. Also from the department: after-hours clinics are done, with back-to-school shots complete.
- 24:55Aug 17, 2026One word fixed in the elevator repair contractBefore the $9,819.88 elevator work order is approved, the payment terms are corrected: the word "commences" is struck for "completes," so the second half is due when the work is done — a reading the order's own cost breakdown already carried.
- 27:01Aug 17, 2026Postcards to reach thousands of veterans about a tax deductionKeyThe veteran service officer says about 300 property tax deductions were processed in six weeks, against a backlog he puts near 10,000 by rough numbers; the board approves roughly $5,000 for postcards to about 7,000 addresses matched with the auditor's office, alongside channel 27 and the newspaper. Six weeks into the job, he says he is meeting about five veterans a day and is overrun with work.
- 33:10Aug 17, 2026EMS generator replacement waits on two more quotesA $164,220 quote to replace and relocate the EMS station's undersized generator is tabled: the county attorney says a public works project between $50,000 and $300,000 requires three quotes, opened at the next meeting, with the county able to accept the lowest. The maintenance director expects two more quotes by then.
- 35:28Aug 17, 2026School resource officer contract approved pending legal reviewWithout the contract document in hand — just an email laying out the details — the commissioners approve the annual school resource officer contract and school safety grant, subject to the county attorney's review of the actual contract.
- 37:02Aug 17, 2026An offer to fix 40 hail-damaged county vehiclesAn email from Sheriff Garcia, read into the record, asks that more sheriff's vehicles be included in the hail repair process; the repair company's invoices offer to cover $2,500 per vehicle if at least 40 vehicles are fixed, described as leaving no out-of-pocket cost. The commissioners ask to see the offer in writing and have the attorneys review it before acting.
- 41:58Aug 17, 2026$35,755 in legal bills outside the retainerThe county attorney presents about six months of billing for matters outside the retainer agreement — some tapering down, some "rolling off in the wrong direction" — and says that is all he can say about them publicly. The motion to approve $35,755 carries.
- 44:10Aug 17, 2026A third commissioner is expected September 8The next regular meeting is Tuesday, September 8 at 10 a.m., and the presiding commissioner says he believes a third commissioner will be seated by then. No one speaks during public comment.
Jun 1, 2026 · County Commissioners · County Commissioners
- 56:38Jun 1, 2026A resident asks where the data center moratorium standsKeyIn public comment: the moratorium has been discussed since the March 2 meeting, has not gone to public hearing and has not been signed — which, the speaker says, leaves the county unprotected until the ordinance is written.
- 57:40Jun 1, 2026Passed in May, and no signature pageKeyAsked directly whether the commissioners had passed a data center moratorium, the answer given is yes — back in May. The speaker says that without a public hearing it is non-binding, and that no signature page has been seen; a commissioner says the commissioners have done their part. The captions carry no speaker labels, so who answers is not established here — the recording is the record.
- 58:10Jun 1, 2026A second moratorium, at the Area Plan CommissionDescribed from the dais: the Area Plan Commission passed a resolution in a public meeting directing the area plan office not to take in a special exception or any building permit for a data center.
Nov 17, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners
- 16:39Nov 17, 2025“There's no old business”KeyThe ordinance had been tabled to November 20, a date that did not exist; this is the meeting that did. Sixteen minutes in, the presiding commissioner moves past old business entirely. The written minutes agree — Old Business reads “None.” The item has not appeared on a Commissioners agenda since.
- 19:03Nov 17, 2025“Something you can point to”The same morning, adopting a towing ordinance: it “clearly defines what our expectations are and it's going to be in writing. So that's always good and something you can point to.” The commissioners passed three instruments that day — towing, EMS fees, an ADA coordinator — and had written records-access rules two weeks before. Writing rules down is routine for this body.
- 37:40Nov 17, 2025Five listening sessions, rotating between communitiesThe proposal before the commissioners is five sessions in the five communities closest to the interchange, open to anyone regardless of where they live.
Nov 3, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners
- 14:14Nov 3, 2025“Unlimited access… for whatever they needed to”The dispatch director describes how two courts had been reaching police records software before the agreements signed this morning. He adds that the county has no oversight of the Marion or Gas City probation departments, which is why the terms were put in writing.
- 15:23Nov 3, 2025“Great to have something in writing”The presiding commissioner, on adopting written rules for who may see police records: “That way we're clear on what the rules of the game are.” The camera ordinance was still tabled at the same meeting.
- 44:48Nov 3, 2025The whole of it: one clause, then Christmas lightsKeyThe county's attempt to govern these cameras gets a single sentence here, between an agreement gifting defibrillators to the highway department and a partnership for the Walkway of Lights. The captions render it “we're still tabled by a LPR ordinance” — ALPR garbled. No discussion follows.
- 52:21Nov 3, 2025The November 20 that never existedAnnouncing the next meeting as “Monday, November the 20th,” the commissioner is corrected from the floor — “Is it the 17th? Yes. Correction. Our next meeting is the 17th.” The minutes had tabled the ordinance “until November 20, 2025.” On November 17, Old Business read “None.”
Oct 20, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners
- 16:19Oct 20, 2025Old business opens with a rejected bidBefore reaching the cameras, the commissioners reject every bid on the EMS building for a second time as over their price point. The camera ordinance is the next item.
- 17:49Oct 20, 2025The ordinance, still being writtenKeyThe second item under old business. The captions render it "the ALPR ordinance. Uh we're still working on that ordinance… it's currently tabled so there's no action needed." The written minutes for the same meeting record "2. ALPR Ordinance-Tabled" — the paper and the recording agree, and the recording adds that work on it was continuing.
- 18:20Oct 20, 2025BCS delivers the Exit 255 feasibility studyKeyThe consulting firm presents its final report on the I-69 and State Road 26 interchange — utilities, willing landowners, and what making the site ready for use would require.
- 25:32Oct 20, 2025The study's first recommended step is listening sessionsBefore any decision to invest in the interchange, the report recommends going to the communities nearest it and asking what residents want to see there.
Oct 6, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners
- 4:39Oct 6, 2025$250,000 of ARPA money for a sheriff's TahoeA pre-approved claim to Kelly Automotive Group. Marion's council funded its own Flock cameras out of an ARPA public safety appropriation the year before.
- 32:13Oct 6, 2025The sheriff in the room, on other businessSheriff Garcia presents a Good Samaritan certificate and challenge coin to John Shrout of Shrout's Towing. The sheriff's office is listed with eleven cameras in the September 2025 records request; the ordinance that would govern them came up later the same morning with no discussion.
- 44:50Oct 6, 2025The ordinance they did pass, four minutes earlierOrdinance 14-2025, letting commissioners carry firearms in county government buildings, carried 3-0. The camera ordinance was the next item on the agenda.
- 46:38Oct 6, 2025“We're still trying to perfect the ordinance”KeyThe whole of the county's attempt to govern these cameras, and the only explanation of it anywhere. The minutes record “4. ALPR Ordinance-Removed.” Here the presiding commissioner says it is being rewritten — not dropped. It has not returned to an agenda since.
Full transcripts
The complete automatic captions for each meeting, as plain text. They garble names — check the recording before quoting.
- Sep 2, 2026 · County Commissioners · Special session ↓
- Aug 17, 2026 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners ↓
- Jun 1, 2026 · County Commissioners · County Commissioners ↓
- Nov 17, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners ↓
- Nov 3, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners ↓
- Oct 20, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners ↓
- Oct 6, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners ↓
The recordings
- Sep 2, 2026 · County Commissioners · Special session — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHvhklGvJMg
- Aug 17, 2026 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UheTZ812KHA
- Jun 1, 2026 · County Commissioners · County Commissioners — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heehFJj-9_U
- Nov 17, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8VjMm_XQBw
- Nov 3, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgXe4kdQSk
- Oct 20, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4REf1sdInw
- Oct 6, 2025 · County Commissioners · Grant County Commissioners — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngOHE1FJ-E4
Timestamps are the moment each exchange begins. Links open five seconds early for context. Located using automatic captions — watch before quoting.
What this is, and what it is not
Ten governing bodies meet in public in and around Grant County and post the recordings; their own archives are searchable only by scrolling. This page puts 2,621 indexed moments across 189 recordings in one place, alongside 99 records from the county's September 2 release on the internal investigation of Commissioner Chuck Poling. Pick a body, pick a subject, and the two compose.
It is not the whole record. It holds what has been indexed so far, and the depth is uneven by design. A body with few entries here has not been examined less carefully — it has been examined less.
Nothing found is not the same as nothing said. Browsing the index and searching what was said are different questions, and the second reaches less far: full transcripts are loaded for 100 of the 189 recordings and 86 of the 99 investigation records, and of the 89 without one, 79 are Drainage Board. Where no transcript is loaded the moments are still indexed and the recording still plays; it is the word search that is blind.
Captions garble names and numbers badly. Timestamps came from automatic captions. Watch the clip before repeating a name, a figure or a quotation. The recording is the record; this is a way in.
Drainage Board entries were located by a script, not chosen by a person — it found where the agenda turns. The labels are dull for that reason, and no mechanical entry characterizes, summarizes or names anyone.
The investigation records are the county's own release, linked from Quick Links at the foot of the county's site. Most of the paper was scanned and machine-read, so the linked original governs. One file is indexed in part: a set of news clippings that carries dozens of unrelated people's court filings on the same pages, where only the lines naming Poling are indexed.
Print this report, or save it as a PDF — the documents open out on the page, and each recording carries a code that opens the video at the moment quoted.
Sources and methods
Built from the moments already indexed in our subject reports rather than re-derived, so anything here has been through the same checking. Subjects were normalized to mean the same thing in every body.
- ChannelGrant County Government — archived meeting recordings · retrieved Aug 10, 2026One channel carrying the commissioners, county council, BZA, Area Plan Commission, the data center subcommittee and the drainage board. 489 videos enumerated; 385 transcripts captured.
- ChannelMarion Common Council — archived meeting recordings · retrieved Aug 10, 2026Only Common Council appears in this feed.
- ChannelTown of Fairmount — archived public-meeting streams · retrieved Aug 10, 202632 archived streams, 30 with usable transcripts. Two carry no transcript for accounted-for reasons — one is 8 seconds with no dialogue, one had its audio muted at source.
Updates to this report
- Aug 12, 2026Loaded transcripts for four more meetings: the commissioners on October 20 and June 1, and the drainage board on July 14 and July 28. Every meeting in the index with a transcript available is now searchable.
- Aug 11, 2026Added two August meetings: the data center subcommittee on August 5 and the drainage board on August 11 — 62 new moments and both transcripts.
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