Richard Essex/Eyewitness News
Greencastle - Putnam County Sheriff Mark Frisbie has resigned his position effective immediately.
Frisbie's sheriff's car was still in his driveway Saturday afternoon, but he didn't answer the door at his home. There were also no answers at the county jail.
"None of us have any information," an officer at the jail told Eyewitness News, declining an interview.
According to published reports, the popular second-term sheriff is under federal investigation.
"I understand there was a federal investigation and that this resignation rose out of the findings of that investigation," said Larry Sutton, chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party. "Something about using county credit cards for personal business. Even though the money was paid back, I think that is one of the things."
This is not the first time federal authorities have investigated his department.
"We had a person working at the sheriff's department, George Alexander, who took some federal money and put it in his checking account and they came and got him and this may have grown out of that investigation," Sutton said.
Sutton has been with Sheriff Frisbie from the beginning of his political career - he chaired his first campaign - and finds the news of the investigation more than a little unsettling.
"Regardless of what fact brought about Mark Frisbie's resignation, he still has a lot of friends in this county," Sutton said.
Frisbie was first elected sheriff in 2002, beating an incumbent for the seat. In 2006, he was the top vote-getter in the county.
Putnam County Republicans will meet September 6 for a special caucus to elect a new sheriff. So far, at least two current members of the department have expressed interest in the job.
