Attorney Anticipates Filing Tort Claim Notice Against Pulaski County Officials

Pulaski County Commissioners Larry Brady, Vice President Terry Young, and President Tracey Shorter
Pulaski County Commissioners Larry Brady, Vice President Terry Young, and President Tracey Shorter
The attorney for the former Pulaski County highway superintendent anticipates filing a notice of tort claim against the Pulaski County Commissioners, county attorney and auditor by the end of the week. Kenny Becker was fired Monday night during an executive session meeting for unspecified violations of the county personnel policy. The firing follows his paid suspension last month while commissioners looked into unspecified complaints of wrongdoing. Becker was reinstated as county highway manager after that investigation failed to find any criminal misdeeds. His attorney, Steven Bush of Valparaiso, says he plans to file as soon as Becker can come in and sign the necessary paperwork.

“We fully intend to go forward, particularly with his termination, and we are at this point looking into other potential violations by the commissioners, including a violation of the open door law. We’re going to look everywhere we can right now. We didn’t start this fight, but certainly we’ll make every effort we can to finish it,” Bush said.

The filing is a first step in pursuing legal action against a governmental entity. The county will have 90 days from the time the tort claim is filed to respond. If they don’t, Bush says he will pursue a lawsuit.