UTICA, Ind. (WDRB) -- A special judge reinstated three members of the Utica Township Fire District Board as the southern Indiana organization designs its future in the wake of the former Clark County sheriff's financial crimes.

"The (Clark County) commissioners didn't have the authority to remove the fire board under the circumstances," Judge Larry Medlock said. "It seems to me they were doing their job appropriately and trying to take into consideration their obligation of that particular fire district."

Those three members, Joseph Jarles, Kelly Khuri and Randy Leverett left the Clark County Courthouse after Judge Medlock announced his ruling and immediately returned to a community center in Utica voting to approve a new fire service district that merges Jeffersonville and Utica.

That vote is exactly what the Clark County Commission tried to block when they removed the trio making up the Utica Township Fire District board in a meeting earlier this month.

For years, the board contracted with New Chapel EMS and Fire, operating through the Utica Volunteer Fire Department, which provided vital emergency response. But that service crumbled under controversy when its former chief, Jamey Noel, exploited New Chapel as his personal ATM, selling off fire trucks and leaving the town without adequate emergency response. Noel, a former Clark County Sheriff, is now serving a 12-year prison sentence. The fallout from his crimes left the town of Utica without fire service.

Clark County commissioners appointed Jarles, Khuri and Leverett to develop a plan to solve the lack of fire coverage in the county. After a series of public meetings, the cost to build a new fire department from scratch was about $30 million. The commissioners then removed three members of the new board and appointed one person to take their place. But that person never accepted the position.

A special judge issued a ruling Friday to put the three members of the Utica Jeffersonville Fire Board back on the board.

"We do not diminish the need for fire protection for this place but at what cost and are there other alternatives," said Jeff Lowe, attorney for Clark County Commissioners.

The merged fire territory is a contentious issue because the funding will not come exclusively from property taxes in Jeffersonville and Utica. Indiana tax caps means it will take a bite out of the budgets of the other 30 taxing agencies in Clark County. In a public hearing in February Mark Laughner, the Superintendent of Greater Clark County Schools, said his district stood to lose $10 million.

“This will decimate our operations plan, our operations fund," Laughner said. "We will more than likely have to cut transportation routes. Instead of 1- or 2-mile walk zones, we’re talking about 3- or 4-mile walk zones, potentially."

Jeffersonville’s City Council already approved the new fire district and with Utica’s fire board signing off Friday it will next head to Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for approval.

"Utica has suffered enough," Fire Board President Joe Jarles said. “I get that we’re affecting everybody else but I also get that Utica has taken so little for so many years and we need help.”

Friday’s vote pushes up against a deadline. Leaders said the new fire territory had to be approved before April first in order to take effect in January of 2026.

Jeffersonville Fire picked up service in Utica has already been providing service in Utica Friday evening’s vote pushed up against a deadline. It was so much of a concern 50 year Utica resident Bob Hall joined a handful of neighbors to see it in person.

“I live in a 160-year-old wooden house that would burn in 10 minutes, I mean it would be gone,” Hall said. “So I needed that very much as does the whole town.”

The move will create the Jeffersonville-Utica Township Fire Protection Territory, serving both areas of Clark County. Fire officials didn't hide the fact that property taxes in Utica and Jeffersonville could go up as much as 30%. Hill says its better than the alternative.

But there may be more courtroom showdowns ahead. Attorneys representing River Ridge don't want the new fire district to take away Tax Increment Finance district tied to the Commerce Center that brings thousands of jobs to the county. Jarles and attorney Greg Fifer sparred over the issue during the three hour hearing determining the fire board’s fate.

Fifer said the new fire district could cost River Ridge more than $1.5 million in the first year. It is likely River Ridge will seek to be carved out of paying.

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