(ANGOLA) - WLKI is continuing its investigation into financial oversight at Steuben County Park and Campground on Crooked Lake.
A State Board of Accounts examination found that $44,141.27 collected at the park between 2022 and 2024 was not deposited.
Former Park Assistant Superintendent and Event Center Coordinator Sara Brook Smith now faces felony charges of theft, counterfeiting, obstruction of justice and official misconduct.
The state examination focused on what happened to the money. WLKI's investigation is focused on the operation around it: who was supposed to review the work, whether concerns were raised, how financial safeguards failed and whether personal relationships affected the level of scrutiny.
WLKI has requested emails, memos, written procedures, job responsibilities and other records that could show what county officials knew, when they knew it and how park finances were supposed to be supervised.
Multiple confidential sources have contacted WLKI News stating they had concerns about park finances or recordkeeping, and they raised those concerns with others at the county before and up to the day of Smith's January 2025 resignation. Those claims have not been independently confirmed, and the requested records may or may not support them.
Under Indiana law, the county generally has seven calendar days to respond to a records request submitted by email or mail. That response may simply acknowledge the request. The records themselves must be produced within a reasonable period depending on the amount and complexity of the material.
WLKI will let readers know when the records arrive--and what they contain.