Indiana Supreme Court to hear theft case against former township trustee

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Supreme Court will hear arguments Friday in the theft case against a former township trustee from Tippecanoe County.

A trial court found former Wabash Township Trustee Jennifer Teising guilty of 21 counts of theft in January 2022.

Prosecutors alleged Teising collected her government salary despite moving out of the township and not performing her official duties. As an elected township trustee, Teising was required by law to live within the township she served.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Teising sold her home in Wabash Township and moved some belongings to a friend’s house elsewhere in the township, where she received mail and was registered to vote, according to prosecutors.

Teising then bought a trailer and spent nine months working remotely while traveling in and out of the state, according to the Indiana Supreme Court’s website.

The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned Teising’s conviction in December, finding that the state failed to show sufficient evidence that she intended to “abandon” Wabash Township and set up a new household somewhere else.

Justices are set to hear arguments in Teising’s case at 10 a.m. Friday.