OPINION: Current Indiana county government structure fails to facilitate accountability

By Randall Shepard, For the Journal & Courier

Shepard is chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court and was co-chairman of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform.

Hoosiers are proud of our Midwest common sense and values. And we're not too big on following the crowd.

But there is at least one distinction in the way we operate local government that belies common sense and violates our enduring value of accountability. Indiana is the only state in the nation that divides fiscal and other legislative policy-making between two county entities -- the board of commissioners and the county council.