Justices: Were criminal charges necessary to oust Jennifer Teising as trustee?

Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments Friday, considering whether to take the case, after the Court of Appeals overturned a 2022 conviction of former Wabash Township Trustee Jennifer Teising

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INDIANA SUPREME COURT WEIGHS WHETHER TO TAKE FORMER WABASH TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE’S CRIMINAL CASE

Indiana Supreme Court justices, taking oral arguments Friday into questions about what it means for a township official to “reside within” the place where they were elected, didn’t seem to question whether former Wabash Township Trustee Jennifer Teising was on the move for months during a tumultuous term that ended with criminal charges.

“Yo-yo-ing around,” is how Chief Justice Loretta Rush put it during a 40-minute session Friday morning, describing a vagabond existence that created the grounds for a theft conviction that was overturned in 2022.

The panel of five justices, though, repeatedly asked whether criminal charges filed against Teising were the right way to go about getting rid of a derelict township trustee when civil means were available if she’d, in fact, abandoned her post.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)