INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — A former employee with the Indiana Veterans’ Home faces felony criminal charges after an investigation by the state Office of the Inspector General uncovered allegations of ghost employment and the unauthorized use of a state vehicle.
Steven L. Harris, who previously served as a program director and marketing coordinator for the state-run veterans facility, has been charged with theft and official misconduct. Both counts are classified as Level 6 felonies, which carry a maximum penalty of two and a half years in prison. The criminal case was initiated in Marion County in January, and Harris attended his initial court hearing in March. A pretrial conference has been scheduled for June 2.
According to court documents, Harris worked for the Indiana Veterans’ Home from January 2023 until he resigned from his position in May 2024. One week after his departure, the Office of the Inspector General received a complaint regarding his work activities. The investigation revealed that Harris allegedly utilized state-compensated time and a state-owned vehicle for purposes entirely unrelated to his professional obligations. Indiana Inspector General Jared Prentice stated that cooperation from the veterans facility helped investigators secure the evidence necessary to forward the case to the prosecutor, emphasizing that accountability remains mandatory for all state government personnel.
The investigation intensified following an incident in April 2024, when Harris requested bereavement leave to travel out of state for a family funeral, claiming to have flown to Kansas. During this period, Harris’ significant other contacted his workplace to report that he had departed in his state-issued vehicle and had been missing for three days, adding that she had no knowledge of any family deaths. This report prompted state investigators to examine Harris’ professional travel logs and vehicle tracking data.
GPS and cellular data records revealed that Harris frequently operated the state vehicle on his scheduled days off and completed unauthorized trips to Ohio, Missouri, and Kentucky. While his job responsibilities required him to travel throughout Indiana’s 92 counties to visit nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and senior centers to promote the Indiana Veterans’ Home, records indicated he remained primarily in the Indianapolis area. Harris’ supervisor informed investigators that she contacted nearly 95 facilities where Harris claimed to have conducted outreach, but she was unable to find any staff members who had met or spoken with him, with most representatives stating they had never heard of the Indiana Veterans’ Home.
Cell phone mapping data compiled by investigators further contradicted Harris’ official work logs. Court records show that between February 12 and February 16, 2024, Harris documented outreach visits to Crawford, Perry, Spencer, Warrick, Montgomery, and Kosciusko counties, but location data indicated he never exited Marion County. Additionally, Harris claimed he traveled to Elkhart, LaGrange, and Allen counties from April 8 through April 12, 2024, but tracking data showed he actually drove to Wilberforce, Ohio, on April 8 before returning to the Indianapolis area, where the vehicle remained for the rest of that week.
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