Nick Loving failed to file a required oath of office document within 30 days after he was appointed on May 28 as Burns Harbor clerk-treasurer, which, according to state law, could cost him his job.
Loving didn’t take his official oath and file the paperwork with the Porter County Clerk’s Office until Aug. 19, 83 days after he was appointed clerk-treasurer by Porter County Democratic Party Chairman Don Craft.
Indiana Code states that if an individual appointed or elected to an office doesn’t file the oath document within 30 days, the office becomes vacant.
Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey, who personally handled Loving’s oath and paperwork on Aug. 19, said that someone would have to file a complaint with the Porter County Election Board. The board has two members each from the Republican and Democratic parties, and Bailey is a non-voting board member.
“I didn’t know we had to file this until I was notified that I had to file it,” Loving said, in explaining what happened.
Loving said that Bailey was the one who notified him about the oath of office paperwork missing.
When asked if he was aware of the state law that required him to file within 30 days, Loving replied: “I am now.”
Former Burns Harbor Clerk-Treasurer Jane Jordan was probably the catalyst for the issue surfacing.
Jordan said that a concerned citizen contacted her about the issue. As a result, Jordan and her husband Kurt Jordan visited the Porter County Clerk’s Office on Aug. 12 and asked if Loving had filed the oath paperwork. Jordan said there was nothing on file at the time.
For now, Jordan said she is undecided about whether to ask the Porter County Election Board to consider enforcing the law that would remove Loving from office.
Jordan resigned in May 2024 after serving 20 years as the Burns Harbor clerk-treasurer because the Town Council failed to support her on issues she had with some department heads. Her husband, Kurt, also resigned from the council. She said she still cares about her community.
“I spent more than 20 years with the town on various boards. I worked hard for the town and pride myself on following the law and doing the right thing,” Jordan said.
When the clerk-treasurer’s job became open with the May 14 resignation of Nicole Migliorini, Jordan, a Democrat, expressed interest in returning to her old job. But Jordan was already drawing a pension from the state, so the town would have been prohibited from contributing 11.2% of her salary toward the pension fund. When the Town Council declined her request to contribute the 11.2% toward her salary, Jordan withdrew and Loving was appointed.
Another issue that concerns Jordan is that Loving failed to have a required insurance bond in place until he signed a contract on July 30, more than two months after his appointment. The bond covers the town for some financial losses as a result of actions taken by an elected official.
“There were a lot of transitional things that I didn’t know,” Loving said about the delay.
The documents for the insurance bond were filed with the Porter County Recorder’s Office on Aug. 14.
Indiana Code states that the bond for a municipality’s clerk-treasurer is required before that person commences their term. State code also stipulates that the insurance bond must be approved by a municipality’s council. The bond has to be recorded with the County Recorder within 10 days.
Jordan said that it’s evident that the bond wasn’t in effect when Loving took office.
An examination of the insurance bond document filed with the Porter County Recorder also shows that Loving signed in the space where the town council president usually signs, Jordan said.
The Town Council unanimously approved the insurance bond contract at its Aug. 13 meeting. Councilwoman Toni Biancardi noted during the meeting that in the past that the council would approve that bond and the council president would sign the document. Loving assured her that everything was settled.
Loving, before becoming the clerk-treasurer, had served more than six years on the council, Jordan said. She said that for two of those years, he was the council president and at the December meeting, he signed the insurance bond for the clerk-treasurer. Town council minutes show that Loving signed the bond in 2020 and 2021.
She questions how Loving can play the “I didn’t know” card when he served on the council for more than six years.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
