GREENFIELD — After 50 years serving as Hancock County attorney, Ray Richardson’s tenure in county government has come to an end.
The Hancock County Commissioners voted 2-0 on Tuesday to appoint Scott Benkie, an Indianapolis attorney, as the county’s legal counsel. Commissioners John Jessup and Marc Huber voted in favor of the change; Commissioner Brad Armstrong was traveling and was absent. Benkie, who formerly represented Hamilton County in the late 1980s as a partner with the law firm Benkie & Crawford, will officially start today.
The commissioners didn’t make any motion on the termination of Richardson as a county employee at Tuesday’s meeting, nor did they mention his 50 years as county attorney for the meeting record. They board did, however, vote to pay Richardson $20,000 out of the county’s contractual services fund for money Richardson was owed for his work on a bond issue, Jessup said.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
“We felt like that was the right thing to do to make that square with him,” Jessup added.
Jessup, president of the board of commissioners, told the Daily Reporter after the meeting that the board decided to go a different direction as far as legal representation. The commissioners met multiple times in executive session in January to “receive information about and interview prospective employees.”
“There was nothing in particular that instigated it other than long-term discussions of what direction we wanted to take the county,” Jessup said. “We appreciate and are thankful for the years and years of services Ray has given Hancock County and our citizens, both as county attorney and in his elected roles.”
Richardson served 24 years in the Indiana House of Representatives.
Jessup said the county doesn’t comment on personnel issues, but he did say no disciplinary action precipitated the action. Richardson also didn’t tender his resignation, nor did the county ask for his resignation, Jessup said.
Richardson’s salary for 2019 was set at $34,353, auditor Debra Carnes said. The county plans to pay Benkie about $52,000, Jessup said. The higher salary is because of Benkie’s ability to litigate on behalf of the county, which Richardson did not do, Jessup said. The county used to contract with other attorneys for litigation in court. Benkie will also be a county employee, similar to Richardson.
Recently, Richardson had been giving advice about the county’s contract with RQAW, the Indianapolis firm the county hired to design a 440-bed jail at the county farm. He was also assisting the county on how to raise the local income tax and issue a revenue bond to pay for the proposed $35 million jail.
Richardson, 81, said he plans to spend his retirement traveling more with his wife, Paulette.
When Richardson became county attorney in 1969, he was near the end of his first term in the Indiana House of Representatives. He spent 24 years at the Statehouse, from 1966 to 1990, and sponsored 200 laws. He also was elected three times to the Indiana University Board of Trustees, from 1992 to 2001. He was on the board when it backed the firing of IU basketball coach Bob Knight in 2000, saying later that “Bob Knight fired himself” because Knight couldn’t live up to a basic standard of conduct the school had set.
Richardson always envisioned a career in public service.
“I entered law school not so much because I wanted to practice law but rather I wanted to prepare myself for politics and government, which was my real love,’ Richardson wrote in an email this week to the Daily Reporter.
Bill Bolander, president of the Hancock County Council, said Richardson had a vast knowledge of state and local government. During his time with the General Assembly, Richardson wrote many of the laws the county dealt with on a regular basis, Bolander added.
“He usually is fairly astute. Sometimes we would argue points, and sometimes we’d win and sometimes he’d win,” Bolander said about Richardson, adding there lately seemed to be conflicts of opinion and personality between Richardson and some county elected officials.
Bolander, who has worked with Richardson for the past 28 years, said he appreciated Richardson’s attention to detail and procedure. If the county council had to issue bonds or hold specific public hearings, Richardson would keep the council in check, making sure it followed state law.
“He attended a lot a lot of meetings, whether he was required to or not,” Bolander said. “He was always there to assist.”
Richardson attended the county’s jail committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, providing legal input on his second-to-last day of his job.
Robin Lowder, the former Hancock County auditor, said she never had any complaints about Richardson during her 9½ years as auditor (Lowder was appointed to finish out the former auditor’s term in July 2009). Lowder said she respected Richardson as an attorney and found him quite knowledgeable.
“I always found Ray to be very professional and to always respond quickly when we needed help,” Lowder said. “I enjoyed working with Ray very much.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About Ray Richardson” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
- Born and raised in Logansport
- Undergraduate degree from Purdue University, class of 1959
- Law degree from Indiana University Bloomington, class of 1962
- Moved to Greenfield in 1962
- Member of the Indiana House of Representatives, 1966 to 1990; sponsored 200 laws
- Elected three times to the Indiana University Board of Trustees, 1992 to 2001
- Hancock County attorney from 1969 to 2019
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Meet the new county attorney” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
GREENFIELD — Scott Benkie, who’s been practicing law in Indiana for 34 years, officially starts as Hancock County attorney today.
Benkie is a partner with the law firm Benkie & Crawford, based out of Indianapolis. His firm represented Hamilton County in the late 1980s. Benkie was also attorney for the Carmel Park Board in the early 1990s.
He has legal experience with litigation and contract conflicts, issues similar to those he might face as Hancock County attorney, Benkie said.
“That’s the perspective I will provide to the job, and I’m pleased to get started," he said.
Benkie, originally from South Bend, earned a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College and a law degree from Indiana University School of Law. He’s an AV-rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest classification given from the ratings organization.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
