Perry County Wins in the Indiana Court of Appeals

From the office of FROST BROWN TODD

PERRY COUNTY — The end of April the Indiana Court of Appeals determined that Perry County Councilor Keith Huck failed to show that he had a reasonable likelihood of winning his lawsuit claiming that the Perry County Board of Commissioners acted improperly when ending County-paid health insurance benefits for part-time elected County officials and other part-time employees. The Court of Appeals determined that the trial court, acting through Special Judge Justin Mills, erred when it concluded that Councilor Huck was entitled to a preliminary injunction requiring the County to keep providing his County-funded health insurance benefits while his continued with his lawsuit against the County regarding his health insurance.

On June 5, 2023, the Perry County Board of Commissioners voted to end health insurance benefits for all part-time employees and elected officials of the County as of January 1, 2024—a decision that ended health insurance benefits for the elected Board of Commissioners, the Perry County Council members and other part-time employees because of the significant cost to Perry County tax payers. "As elected officials, we have to be careful about spending the taxpayers' money. Given the costs associated with providing health insurance to part-time employees, a majority of the Commissioners determined that because state law gave us the option to end the insurance coverage, it was in the best financial interest of the taxpayers to make that decision," said Commissioner Randy Cole, President of the Perry Board of Commissioners.In the case of Councilor Huck, the County's cost of providing his insurance was several times his annual salary, said Commissioner Cole.

Councilor Huck now has 45 days to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Indiana Supreme Court.

For further information, contact Tony Overholt at FROST BROWN TODD who represents the County on this issue.