While former Public Safety Secretary Jennifer-Ruth Green will pay a $10,000 civil fine in an ethics probe against her, potential criminal charges remain under review by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Indiana State Ethics Commission approved Thursday a settlement agreement in Green’s ethics case for violating Indiana’s political activity and misuse of state property rules. With the approval, Green will have to pay the $10,000 fine within the next 60 days.
Under the agreement, the commission will not impose further penalties and both sides “shall result in the final disposition of this proceeding.” Green waived her statutory right to a public hearing to contest the complaint, according to the agreement.
Elaine Vullmahn, chief counsel for enforcement at the inspector general’s office, said Green admitted to violating the political activity rule when she asked employees to draft, edit and post content to the Committee to Elect Jennifer-Ruth Green Facebook account and the misuse of state property rule when she asked an employee to take her state-issued 2024 Chevrolet Suburban for non-official state duties.
When determining a fine, state law allows fines of up to three times the benefit received for the ethics violations, Vulmahn said.
The inspector general’s office calculated that state employees spent about $1,300 worth of time drafting, editing and posting on Green’s political Facebook page. Further, Green drove roughly 7,000 personal miles on her state-issued vehicle, which investigators determined was about a $3,700 benefit, Vullmahn said.
In total, Green received a combined benefit of $5,000, she said.
“The $10,000 fine represents approximately two times the total personal benefit received by Ms. Green, which the OIG believes is a fair, appropriate and proportionate response that serves the interest of justice in the State of Indiana,” Vullmahn said.
Green cooperated with the inspector general’s office investigation, including an interview and providing information, Vullmahn said. Green has accepted responsibility for her actions, “a meaningful step toward accountability,” she said.
In September, the office drafted a probable cause affidavit for ethics violations against Green in five areas: the Committee to Elect Jennifer-Ruth Green Facebook account, Green’s Battle Proven Leadership biography, meeting with a member of the National Republican Congressional Committee, using a state employee as a personal aid, and retaliating against an employee for providing information to the inspector general’s office, Vullmahn said.
With those actions, Vullmahn said Green violated the state’s political activity rule, the ghost employment rule, the misuse of state property rule and the prohibition against retaliation.
Indiana code mandates that the inspector general’s office has to “certify the discovery of potential criminal activity to the appropriate prosecuting attorney,” Vullmahn said.
“In this instance, the OIG certified our findings to the Marion County prosecutor’s office on Oct. 30, 2025,” Vullmahn said, adding that the findings relate to “potential criminal acts” in Green’s violations of the ghost employment, retaliation and official misconduct statutes.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has been reviewing the materials submitted and will likely release a conclusion at the end of the review, Vullmahn said.
As the Indiana State Ethics Commission considers its penalties, it can consider multiple factors, including leadership and responsibility, pattern and duration of misconduct, failure to follow or utilize ethical resources and impact on public trust, Vullmahn said.
As the former Public Safety Secretary and executive director of Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Green “held one of the highest leadership roles in state government,” Vullmahn said.
The investigation revealed that in Green’s “brief tenure” – about nine months into a 4 year appointment – over 50 social media posts were created by state employees, and over 7,000 personal miles were logged on her state vehicle, Vullmahn said. Further, Green attended ethics training and had access to ethics resources, she said.
“The violations committed by Ms. Green have had a tangible impact on public confidence and state government,” Vullmahn said. “The OIG’s mission is to uphold integrity, accountability, and public trust in state government.”
Indiana’s code of ethics applies equally to all state employees, Vullmahn said.
“Those entrusted with leadership positions must recognize that actions, or inactions, at the top matter. Leaders are responsible for setting the standard and modeling ethical conduct for their teams and agencies,” Vullmahn said.
Jennifer Lukemeyer, Green’s attorney, said throughout the investigation “it became clear that there was going to be some evidentiary challenges to the original complaint brought before this commission.”
“As often happens in investigations, once the parties start sifting through the discovery that’s exchanged and looking beyond the surface, you find additional information that may combat the original allegations, and that’s part of what brought us to this resolution,” Lukemeyer said.
In a statement, which Lukemeyer read, Green said she has been in leadership roles in the Air Force and then Gov. Mike Braun’s administration.
“As a leader, I know that I am responsible for what happens within the domain over which I led. I assure you, the violations of the ethics code are aberrant behavior for me. The violations were mistakes … not made with any malicious intent or for gain,” Green’s statement to the commission read.
In October, Green announced her candidacy in the Republican primary to face U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, in Indiana’s first Congressional District in 2026. Green ran against Mrvan in 2022 and lost.
In a statement after the hearing, the Committee to Elect Jennifer-Ruth Green said the settlement “represents a major legal victory” for Green.
The statement criticized the “incompetent and politically compromised” Officer of the Inspector General for attempting to “throw the kitchen sink at her based on a politically motivated sham of an investigation.”
“The OIG completely caved for a settlement to save face with the Ethics Commission and then tried to use today’s forum to smear Jennifer-Ruth again – claiming they backed off more serious charges because the prosecutor’s office was handling,” according to the statement. “The OIG knew they wouldn’t win at a lower standard of proof before the Ethics Commission and they know this case will never go anywhere under a higher standard of proof in criminal court.”
Green’s legal team gave the office of the inspector general “affidavits, recordings, text messages, emails and phone records,” after which the office “quickly moved to settle,” according to the statement.
Green took responsibility for employees helping with her campaign Facebook page “in absence of any administration social media policy” and the use of a state-issued vehicle “that had been explicitly approved by her government attorney,” according to the statement.
“Jennifer-Ruth accepted this settlement and responsibility for minor violations because she has integrity, and she recognized that justice and fairness were unlikely in an environment where pursuing full vindication would require a prolonged legal battle costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, against vindictive actors wielding unlimited taxpayer-funded resources to attack her reputation, character, and career,” according to the statement.
akukulka@post-trib.com
