Authorities charge a former Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputy with official misconduct and theft

Lawrence County, Indiana – A former Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department officer is being held on felony charges of official misconduct and theft.

Timothy Butcher, 48, was taken into custody in Princeton, Indiana on Thursday night, according to Indiana State Police, by agents from the US Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General and members of the ISP’s Special Investigations Unit.

According to ISP, during Butcher’s tenure as the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department’s grant administrator from 2017 to the spring of 2021, inconsistencies were found. As the grant administrator, Butcher was in charge of overseeing the federal grants that the sheriff’s department was awarded for that four-year period, and he was also accountable for adhering to state and federal rules.

After a two-year ISP investigation, Butcher was the subject of a warrant out of Lawrence Superior Court I for his arrest. After being detained, Butcher was first taken to the Gibson County Jail and then to the Lawrence County Jail. Four criminal counts of stealing and four felony counts of official misconduct are the preliminary charges brought against Butcher.

ISP reported that following an audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts, it started looking into these purported differences.

According to ISP, Butcher is charged with failing to provide the proper work papers and with getting paid for overtime that he was not allowed to perform.