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Review Finds No Wrongdoing In Winona

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A "cursory review" of the Winona Lake town council president by the Indiana State Police revealed no criminal conduct, Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe said Thursday.

Kolbe said he asked for the ISP review after a citizen expressed concern over Brent Wilcoxson's alleged conflict of interest between personal and official actions.

Wilcoxson, while serving as president of the town council, also is involved in a major development in Winona Lake.

"The citizen was not familiar with the criminal code," Kolbe said. "I told the citizen about the conflict of interest statute and that it is narrowly defined."

A press release from Kolbe's office Thursday said he was contacted in May by the citizen, whom he would not name. The release said, "... (W)e conclude there is no demonstrable conduct which would justify an investigation or any further action."

Kolbe said that the concerns expressed were of actions that were political in nature and not legally in question.

"They were things that have to do with discretionary calls and the fact that a public official needs to be free to make those discretionary calls," he said.

Any decisions on those actions should be made by voters at the polls, he said.

Wilcoxson said today that he had heard rumors but was never approached directly.

"No citizen, no state police person, no prosecutor has ever talked to me," he said.