• Government
• State of Indiana

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.

In the midst of the election season, Attorney General Todd Rokita announced today that his office has offered guidance to religious leaders and churches in Indiana about how they can legally participate in activities available to all Americans.

“Since its founding, churches have played a vital and indispensable role in our nation’s political and civic life,” Attorney General Rokita said. “There is no federal law that precludes religious leaders from speaking about voter education in a non-partisan way or for the organizations they lead to host or conduct related activities.” 

In the guidance letter, Attorney General Rokita states that churches are protected by the First Amendment in various ways and are not shut out from participating in the electoral process. Non-partisan voter education and registration efforts, inviting candidates to speak before their congregations, and taking a stand on public policy issues that matter to the church and its members are all activities they can engage in without losing its tax-exempt status. 

However, Attorney General Rokita also states that nonprofits, including churches, must not participate or intervene in any particular political campaign, which includes publishing or distributing statements on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. 

“Religious leaders can and should consider playing a role in contributing to our democratic process,” Attorney General Rokita said. “It’s the rock on which our Republic is built. I want to make sure they understand what kinds of election-related conduct is and isn’t legal, so they can lead with confidence and so churches as a whole can be more effective for the communities they serve. 

Attorney General Rokita’s office oversees consumer complaints against nonprofits and entities across the state. Hoosiers can file consumer complaints here if they believe a nonprofit organization is violating state law.

A copy of the guidance can be viewed here.

Indiana State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla commends the Indiana Deferred Compensation Committee (IDCC) for eliminating two funds, one with four percent exposure to Chinese entities and the other that prioritizes environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters over return on investment. 

“These are positive steps to align public employees’ deferred compensation investments with the state laws governing our pensions,” Comptroller Nieshalla said. “Protecting our investments from national security concerns and upholding fiduciary duty will always be top priorities.” 

The IDCC oversees more than $2 billion in public employee supplemental retirement assets through the Hoosier START Plan. At its most recent IDCC quarterly meeting, chaired by Comptroller Nieshalla, the committee voted to eliminate the American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund due to Chinese investment exposure and transfer those dollars to the Fidelity Diversified International Fund. 

The Committee also voted to eliminate the ESG-focused fund, Vanguard FTSE Social Index. Assets currently in the Fund will be moved to the State Street S&P 500 Index Fund. 

Notifications will be sent to participants prior to the investment changes that are slated to occur later this year. Participants will have the opportunity to make investment election changes before the movement of assets. 

Click here for more information regarding the Hoosier START plan.

At a time of unprecedented antisemitism across the United States, Attorney General Todd Rokita makes clear in an advisory opinion that laws protect Jewish individuals from many forms of antisemitic harassment in educational settings. 

In the three months following the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 3,291 antisemitic incidents across the United States — a level unprecedented during any previous three-month period over the last decade and a 361 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year. On university campuses in particular, antisemitic incidents have recently increased again as colleges resume classes for the fall semester. 

“Antisemitism is an evil that spreads beyond the confines of college campuses into the fabric of general society,” Attorney General Rokita said. “We must deal with this ugliness wherever it arises.” 

Attorney General Rokita issued the advisory opinion in response to inquiries from Rep. Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville. 

“Before we can take additional steps to protect our Jewish students and all Hoosiers,” Rep. Haggard said, “it is vitally important to start with the facts. I want to thank the Attorney General for his opinion and support of the Jewish community.” 

Although often veiled in the guise of support for Palestinian innocents, the words and actions directed against Jewish people have all too often crossed the line from legitimate expressions of opinion into something far more sinister — harassment, threats and intimidation that endanger Jewish people’s safety and in fact violate the law.  

“The Indiana Code and various federal civil rights laws prohibit discriminatory conduct based on one’s religion, shared ancestry, or ethnic characteristics in, among other places, educational settings,” the advisory opinion states. “Those laws apply to Jewish individuals as much as they do other protected classes.” 

In particular, the advisory opinion cites Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Indiana Civil Rights Act (Ind. Code art. 22-9). 

“Many of these laws impose affirmative obligations on educators at the university and K-12 levels to combat antisemitism when it arises,” the opinion further states. “In particular, educators may in many cases be required to take affirmative steps to end harassment, intimidation, and violence against Jewish individuals in the educators’ schools and on their campuses.” 

Read the advisory opinion in its entirety here.