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Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit against an Indianapolis car dealer alleging the dealer illegally rolled back odometers on vehicles sold to unsuspecting consumers believing they were purchasing lower-mileage vehicles.

The lawsuit alleges that KBB Auto Sales LLC — along with owners and employees Brandon Billingsley, Shannon Hayes and Nicolas Fortinberry — rolled back odometers by a combined total of more than 14 million miles on 216 known vehicles.

“This outright fraud unfairly gives a bad name to the good and honest people working in the used-car business,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Worse than that, these unethical tactics deceive consumers who buy these vehicles with rolled-back odometers. They wind up with higher-mileage cars and trucks with more wear and tear than they thought.”

The lawsuit alleges that the odometer tampering violates the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, the Indiana Odometer Act, the Federal Odometer Act and the Motor Vehicle Unfair Practices Act.

Attorney General Rokita seeks injunctive relief, consumer restitution, treble damages, civil penalties, costs and other relief.

“We will always work to hold these businesses accountable when they engage in this kind of misconduct detrimental to consumers,” Attorney General Rokita said. “And we will always work to get restitution for Hoosiers who have fallen victim to such reprehensible schemes.”

Attorney General Rokita offers the following tips for Hoosiers shopping for used cars:

Do your research and know your budget prior to going to the dealership.
Test drive the vehicle in a variety of conditions: highway, city streets and stop-and-go traffic.
Get a vehicle history report to check for potential odometer issues, prior accidents and damage, salvage, rebuilt or flood damage title brands.
Have an independent mechanic inspect the vehicle.
Check whether the vehicle has any open recalls, including safety recalls. This information can be obtained at safecar.gov.
Ask to inspect the vehicle’s title, including the odometer disclosure.
Closely inspect the final paperwork to ensure the price and terms match what was negotiated.
Get all promises from the dealer in writing, typically on the “We-Owe” statement.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is standing up for young people’s First Amendment rights in a brief arguing that government cannot compel students to use other people’s “preferred pronouns” in violation of their own deeply held beliefs. Rokita and a likeminded coalition of attorneys general have taken on rogue school administrators across the country, who now use “anti-harassment” rules to force students into navigating and conforming to the bizarre world of transanity – or face very real consequences.

“Exerting government force to require students to speak certain words or affirm certain beliefs is about as Orwellian as it gets,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Many people believe that a person’s sex — either male or female — is a matter of biological fact rather than a matter of personal choice. Whether led to that conclusion by faith or science, the First Amendment protects an individual’s right to espouse such a view and to use pronouns that align with it.”

In an amicus brief, Attorney General Rokita and 21 other attorneys general take issue with a policy adopted by a school district near Columbus, Ohio, that requires students to use preferred pronouns no matter their personal beliefs. The attorneys general argue that the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit should rehear the case after a three-judge panel from that court ruled 2-1 in the school district’s favor.

Forcing kids and parents in Ohio to disregard their personal beliefs is an issue which easily bleeds across state lines.

“The First Amendment does not allow school officials to coerce students into expressing messages inconsistent with the students’ values,” the brief argues. In fact, it’s the opposite. “The First Amendment stringently limits a State’s authority to compel a private party to express a view with which the private party disagrees.”

By Becky Killian, Staff Writer

A public hearing was held for the county’s proposed $27.1 million 2025 budget.

No members of the public opted to comment on the hearing, which was held Tuesday, Sept. 3, during the Washington County Council meeting.

The proposed 2025 budget represents an increase of $1.6 million over the current year’s budget.

The Council will likely adopt the budget during the Monday, Oct. 7, regular meeting. It will then be sent to the state for review.

Today, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced progress this year to reduce customer burden by transitioning wet (physical) signature requirements to digital signatures for over 30 forms as well as removing the signature requirements altogether for 13 forms. These actions simplify application processes for people, including removing a potential reason for claims to be sent back or denied.

“Across forms that Americans use most often, we’re eliminating as many pain points as possible, from helping people sign at the click of a button to reducing the need to drive or mail something in whenever possible,” said Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security. “This means faster and more error-free processing and better service for our customers, who deserve a government that meets their needs efficiently and effectively.”

As a result of this work, SSA will now allow an electronic signature rather than a wet signature for more than 30 forms, which make up 90% of the most commonly used forms by SSA customers in local field offices. Collectively, these forms represent about 14 million signed forms submitted annually.

Furthermore, also this year, SSA has removed the signature requirement entirely for 13 of its most commonly used forms totaling about 1 million submissions in volume annually. This includes removing the signature requirement for the Medical Source Opinion of Patient’s Capability to Manage Benefits (Form SSA-787, which has a total annual volume of 768,000), the Letter to Employer Requesting Wage Information (Form SSA-L4201, which has an annual volume of 133,000), and Request for Reconsideration/Disability Cessation Right to Appear (Form SSA-789, which has an annual volume of 49,000). Customers may also upload many of the 13 forms online, further reducing the burden felt by customers.

To build on this progress, SSA is considering removal of signature requirements on other forms that would ease requirements on about 1 million additional transactions.

Social Security works to pay the right people at the right time in the correct amount. These efforts ensure we maintain strong anti-fraud protections while removing onerous requirements that are not serving their intended purposes.

These efforts also complement other initiatives to modernize and streamline operations. The agency is expanding paperless communication options for millions of my Social Security users so they can see their online Social Security Statement, track the status of their claims, and calculate potential retirement benefits. Notices from across 60 categories are now provided through mySocial Security for easy online access by customers, including the Cost-of-Living Adjustment, their SSA-1099, Benefit Rate Increases, Appointment Confirmations, and more.

New my Social Security account holders can choose online-only communications with one click, and others are encouraged to transition for an enhanced experience.

Social Security is undertaking this work in alignment with the Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government (E.O. 14058), the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) guidance Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience (M-23-22), and OMB guidance Improving Access to Public Benefits Programs Through the Paperwork Reduction Act (M-22-10).

To hear directly from Commissioner O'Malley and learn more about the efforts to remove wet signature requirements, visit the agency’s YouTube page.

Applications for funding from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Community Recycling Grant Program are due on Friday,Sept. 6, 2024.

Counties, municipalities, solid waste management districts, universities, schools, and nonprofit organizations located in Indiana, are eligible to submit a Community Recycling Grant application requesting $1,000 to $100,000 in funding for recycling and household hazardous waste collection and disposal.

The Community Recycling Grant Program is funded through IDEM’s Solid Waste Management Fund. Eligible projects should focus on education and promotion of recycling, processing of recyclable materials, waste reduction, or HHW and organics management (including yard waste management and composting).

Grant funding is intended to create successful, cost-effective, and sustainable programs. Applicants must demonstrate a direct or indirect increase in waste diversion as a result of the project.

To apply, visit IDEM’s website at idem.IN.gov/recycle/resources/indiana-community-recycling-grant-program. For additional information, contact 800-451-6027 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Final funding determinations will be made in late-December 2024.