The photo was taken from surveillance footage released to local media after Collin Thomas robbed a Huntingburg gas station.  Mr. Thomas ended up pleading guilty to Armed Robbery and Pointing a Firearm.

At the sentencing hearing, as the prosecutor assigned to the case, I commented that “every day that Mr. Thomas is incarcerated is a day that he will not be shoving a shotgun in the face of a citizen of our community.”

Judge Verkamp sentenced Mr. Thomas to 9 years in prison.  That was in June of 2020.

But in April of 2023, over my objection, Judge Verkamp modified Mr. Thomas’s placement from prison to work release (meaning that Mr. Thomas could come and go from Dubois County Community Corrections for work, appointments, day passes, church, etc.).

I filed a “Motion to Correct Error,” arguing that Judge Verkamp had no legal authority to release Mr. Thomas from prison over the prosecutor’s objection.  When Judge Verkamp didn’t rule on that motion, the Office of the Indiana Attorney General (AG) got involved.

The AG’s office does not challenge a judge’s decision simply because the prosecutor doesn’t like it.  The AG’s office typically appeals a decision when it believes the judge did not follow the law.

In this case, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office did appeal Judge Verkamp’s decision to let Mr. Thomas out of prison.  However, before the Indiana Court of Appeals could rule on what Judge Verkamp had done, Judge Verkamp sent Mr. Thomas back to prison.

That was after Mr. Thomas was recaptured.  Mr. Thomas had to be recaptured because after Judge Verkamp let him out of prison, Mr. Thomas absconded from work release.

I want Dubois County to be the best place to raise a family and the worst place to commit a violent crime.  If I am elected judge, I will hold violent offenders accountable for their actions within the confines of the law.