Nick Loving has been reappointed as Burns Harbor clerk-treasurer and filed a new oath of office, correcting a potential situation that could have made him vulnerable to a challenge for removal from office.
Porter County Democratic Party Chairman Don Craft said the new appointment and oath of office papers were filed on Friday with the Porter County Clerk’s Office.
Craft said that the action was taken after he had multiple conversations with Loving and Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey.
“Everything should be good now,” Craft said.
Bailey confirmed that the new papers were filed on Friday. She said that she consulted with the Indiana Election Division on what action to take.
Loving was originally appointed on May 28 to the Burns Harbor clerk-treasurer’s position.
Under Indiana code, Loving was supposed to have filed his oath paperwork with the Porter County Clerk’s office within 30 days.
But Loving didn’t file the oath paperwork until Aug. 19, which was 83 days after his appointment. The Indiana Code states that if the paperwork isn’t filed within 30 days, the office becomes vacant.
Bailey said that for someone to be removed from office for failing to file the oath paperwork, a complaint would have to be filed with the Porter County Board of Elections panel, which would render a decision.
After Loving was reappointed to the job Friday, Bailey said that state officials advised her that a civil complaint would have to be filed in court, which would ask for the clerk-treasurer to be removed from office.
Loving had originally stated he was unaware of his requirement to file oath paperwork within 30 days after his appointment. He did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Craft said that through this experience, he’s discovered that it’s not abnormal that oath paperwork is filed late by public officials.
Former Burns Harbor Clerk-Treasurer Jane Jordan was the one who found that Loving had failed to file his paperwork. Jordan had served for 20 years as the town’s clerk, but resigned in May 2024 because the Town Council wouldn’t support her in cases involving department heads.
She said she was “a little surprised” to learn that the Democratic Party chairman took the action of reappointing Loving as clerk-treasurer. She said if there wasn’t a problem with the original appointment, then the reappointment wouldn’t have been necessary.
Jordan questions whether Loving was eligible to be reappointed as the clerk-treasurer. The failure to file paperwork should have resulted in Loving’s automatic removal from office, Jordan believes.
She notes that another part of Indiana election code states that if the person who last held the office had vacated it, they cannot be reappointed to the position.
When the clerk-treasurer’s job became open in May, Jordan had applied for the job. But she withdrew when the Town Council wouldn’t consider her request to add the normal 11.2% contribution for the pension to her pay, because she is already drawing a pension from the state.
“It is clear to me, it is not whether you are qualified and can do the job, it is who you know and who you are that matters. It is clear from the actions of not only the Town Council but the Porter County election officials that this is the case,” Jordan said. “The town residents deserve better.”
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.