Ehmen terminated as county planner

In a 3-0 vote Thursday afternoon, the Putnam County Commissioners terminated Putnam County Planner Doug Ehmen.

A county employee for eight years, Ehmen had served as county planner since June 2014.

As a personnel matter, few details about the nature of Ehmen's termination are known as of late Thursday afternoon.

County Attorney Jim Ensley said the matter started as a complaint filed against the Planning Department.

From that point, an investigation began, with a report provided to the commissioners.

Based on the findings of that report, the commissioners voted to terminate Ehmen in a special meeting Thursday.

Personnel matters are handled in a specific way, based on the provisions of the Indiana Open Door Law.

A public agency may meet to receive information regarding an employee's alleged misconduct. However, any decision regarding discipline must be made in an open meeting.

The commissioners appear to have abided by all regulations of Indiana Code in this matter.

Prior to his relatively brief tenure as Putnam County Planner, Ehmen had also served in the Putnam County Health Department for seven years as the environmental health specialist and public health coordinator.

The commissioners appoint the county planner annually in January. Ehmen was approved, along with the commissioners' other annual appointments at a special meeting in late December.

While Ensley was unable to comment on the particulars of Ehmen's termination on Thursday, he did confirm that it does not involve any sort of criminal investigation.

More details will be provided if they become available.