{"id":1784,"date":"2026-05-12T23:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:12:22","slug":"state-rep-ragen-hatcher-can-keep-her-job-at-gary-sanitary-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/?p=1784","title":{"rendered":"State Rep. Ragen Hatcher can keep her job at Gary Sanitary District"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Indiana House and Office of the Attorney General dismiss ethics violation and conflict of interest<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

State Rep. Ragen Hatcher can keep her day job as the executive director of the Gary Sanitary District, ending a complaint of ethics violations and a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A statement from Steve Segura, the City of Gary\u2019s Chief Communications Officer said, \u201cThe Indiana House Statutory Committee on Ethics analyzed, addressed, and dismissed each allegation presented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaints against Hatcher were brought by Atty. Trent McCain, the former Gary deputy mayor during the Jerome Prince Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 15, Atty. McCain submitted a Formal Ethics Complaint with the Indiana House Ethics Committee and a concurrent Request for Investigation and Formal Opinion with the Indiana Attorney General\u2019s Office concerning Representative Ragen Hatcher\u2019s simultaneous service as Indiana State Representative for House District 3 and as Executive Director of the Gary Sanitary District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Segura said the ethics committee determined Hatcher\u2019s role as executive director was compliant with state law and ethical guidelines. \u201cThe Committee repeatedly found that there were no facts or law sufficient to support the allegations. Crucially, the Committee affirmed that the role of GSD Executive Director does not constitute a “lucrative office” under the Indiana Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatcher was holding two lucrative public offices at the same time and that was a violation of the Indiana Constitution, McCain had complained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Indiana Constitution is clear. Article II, Section 9 prohibits any person from holding more than one lucrative office at the same time. Article III, Section 1 prohibits a person charged with legislative duties from simultaneously exercising executive functions,\u201d McCain asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have reviewed all of the relevant documents you submitted as well as the relevant portions of the Indiana Constitution and Code regarding the position of Executive Director\/Stormwater Coordinator,\u201d the Indiana Attorney General\u2019s Office replied to Atty. McCain. \u201cWe are in agreement with the conclusion reached by the committee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city\u2019s statement noted, \u201cThis matter was thoroughly researched before Representative Hatcher, who is also a licensed attorney, assumed the role of Executive Director of GSD.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We appreciate the Ethics Committee’s reaffirmation that Indiana’s Legislature is a part-time, citizen legislature. Its rules rightfully encourage its members to maintain outside employment and bring real-world experience to the policymaking process,\u201d said Mayor Eddie Melton. \u201cRepresentative Hatcher\u2019s leadership at the Gary Sanitary District continues to be an asset to our city and its residents.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe dismissal of these claims by the Indiana House Statutory Committee on Ethics alleging incompatibility of offices and concurrent compensation puts this matter to rest,\u201d Segura said. \u201cThe City of Gary looks forward to continuing its collaborative work with local and state leaders without further distraction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNeither the House Ethics Committee nor the Attorney General\u2019s Office conducted a full investigation. Both reviewed the complaint on its face and declined to proceed further \u2013 that is a procedural outcome, not an exoneration,\u201d Atty. McCain said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana House and Office of the Attorney General dismiss ethics violation and conflict of interest State Rep. Ragen Hatcher can keep her day job as the executive director of the Gary Sanitary District, ending a complaint of ethics violations and a conflict of interest. A statement from Steve Segura, the City of Gary\u2019s Chief Communications […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1787,"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions\/1787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.justintimejackie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}