Jamey Noel’s property and assets tapped to repay misused public funds

LOUISVILLE, Ky (WDRB) -- When Joe Jarles took over as president of the Utica Township Fire Protection District, he found more than just an empty building — he found a department in disarray and a community left with broken trust.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s over,” Jarles said. “We felt like the best thing for us to do was to recover whatever funds we could and move forward.”

The department is one of several victims named in a court case involving former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, who has been ordered to pay $3.1 million in restitution for misusing public and charitable funds.

According to court records, New Chapel EMS is owed the largest amount — about $2.8 million — while the Utica fire department will receive $650,000 after the state requested part of the settlement be used to cover additional auditing costs.

“I can’t believe that someone in public safety could ever sleep at night knowing the kind of things that were going on here,” Jarles said. “The money that was missing, the firefighters that were in danger without gear, the homeowners being gaslighted — told they had fire protection when he knew they did not.”

Inside the firehouse, a plaque still hangs on the wall from the day the building was dedicated by then-Gov. Frank O’Bannon. Just below the governor’s name are the names Jamey Noel and his late brother, Leon.

“There’s a lot of people that want to take the plaque down,” Jarles said. “But there are other names there that contributed to the Utica Fire Department. There’s a lot of history here — some bad, mostly caused by one group of people.”

The department discovered at least ten fire trucks were missing — some sold for personal profit.

“We were able to prove the last three,” Jarles explained. “We know where they went. We were able to follow the money in the transactions.”

State records show the Noel family owes the Indiana Department of Revenue $207,000 in audit expenses. The Clark County Sheriff’s Department is owed $61,000, and the Indiana State Police are owed $35,000.

Even with restitution payments underway, Jarles said the full scope of the damage may never be known.

“We’ll never know,” he said. “We will never know the damage that was done here. We discovered things all the time.”

The department has since rebuilt much of what was lost — purchasing new equipment and a few used trucks — and continues to restore trust in Utica Township’s fire protection services.

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