EDITORIAL: State slinks further into ethics morass

Troy Woodruff and Inspector General David Thomas have lowered it another notch. Woodruff, the former chief of staff for the Indiana Department of Transportation, won't face criminal or civil charges related to state land deals benefiting his own family members, thanks to a ruling from Thomas.

The inspector general simply concluded Woodruff's conduct “gives rise to the appearance of impropriety” and “diminishes public trust.”

And how.

An Indianapolis Star investigation in early 2013 found that Woodruff and his family members were among the property owners whose land was bought by INDOT for the Interstate 69 project in southwest Indiana. The state paid$7 million for 32 parcels of property appraised at less than half that amount.

Woodruff, along with his father and brother, sold a three-acre field to the state and the rest of the land to an uncle and cousins. The deals gave the family an 83 percent return on investment, according to the Star.