Eilbracht

Jared Reedy | The Tribune

A Vallonia man recently was appointed as Jackson County auditor.

Hans Eilbracht was elected by precinct committee men and women during a Republican Party caucus held on July 29. He was sworn in that evening.

Born and raised in Terre Haute, Eilbracht moved to Jackson County two years ago.

“When I came here, I wanted to get involved in the community,” Eilbracht said. “When this opportunity came up, I thought, ‘Hey, here’s another way to serve and help the community.’ I moved here and love it and wanted to get more involved.”

Eilbracht has a background in information technology.

“As an IT professional, I was part of an executive management team,” Eilbracht said. “I did capital and expense budgets. That always interested me, making sure you manage the budget.”

Eilbracht’s appointment arrives on the heels of the resignation of Jamie Pyle, who served as interim auditor following former Auditor Staci Eglen’s resignation. After filing a declaration of candidacy in February for the primary election, Pyle recently decided not to seek election.

Eglen, who resigned from the position on May 3, was arrested later that month on a Jackson Circuit Court warrant for 9 Level 6 felony charges, including three counts each of fraud, theft and official misconduct. According to a news release from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, Eglen allegedly obtained in excess of $18,000 illegally from the county through fraud and theft from October to December 2023. A jury trial for Eglen is set for Dec. 3 at 8:30 a.m.

Pyle’s decision not to run means there will now be a vacancy on the ballot for the Nov. 5 General Election on the Republican side of the aisle. Pyle withdrew her candidacy after the July 15 deadline.

No Democrats are listed on the ballot, which means the nine GOP candidates for county-wide offices will take office Jan. 1 along with Eilbracht. Those candidates are Jackson Circuit Judge Richard D. Poynter, Treasurer Kathy S. Hohnstreiter, Coroner Paul Foster, Surveyor Daniel Blann, District I Commissioner Drew Markel, District 2 Commissioner Drew Storey and council at-large members, R. Brett Turner, John L. Nolting and Amanda Lowery.

The auditor, which is a constitutional office, is the fiscal officer for county government in Indiana and serves as the secretary of the board of county commissioners and the clerk to the county council. As a constitutional office, auditors can only hold two consecutive four-year terms.

The auditor’s responsibilities also include keeping and issuing checks for the county and distributing property tax revenues to the governmental units and agencies for which they were collected. The auditor assists with budget preparations by developing financial analysis and cash flow projections and also must prepare plats that show ownership and assess valuation of each parcel in each township of the county.