Republican State Rep. Jeff Ellington moves west into another district

Republican plans to run for Indiana House District 45 seat from new home in Bloomfield

By Laura Lane, The Herald-Times

Published on Friday, October 22, 2021, Reprinted with permission

State Rep. Jeff Ellington changed his voter registration address this week from his That Road home just south of Bloomington to an abandoned brick building in Bloomfield he bought for a bargain price in 2018 to renovate.

Hope and Jeff Ellington holding their new voter registration documents this week, validating their move to Greene County from Monroe County. Photo courtesy of Jeff Ellington

He and his wife now will be living in District 45, which contains about half of Ellington's former District 62. He intends to run for re-election to the House of Representatives in the district currently represented by House Assistant Majority Whip Bruce Borders.

Borders, who has served District 45 in two stints totaling 15 years and moonlights as an Elvis Presley impersonator, could not be reached Friday morning for comment.

New Republican-backed redistricting maps, which Ellington voted against, took conservative Greene County out of his Republican-heavy district and left Ellington in a more Democratic-leaning one.

"Wednesday, Hope and I changed our voter registration to our Bloomfield address," Ellington said in an email response to questions about his move.

"It is my intention to run for re-election in 2022 from our Greene County home. This would put me in District 45 — Greene, Sullivan, and parts of Daviess, Knox, Vigo — in the 2022 elections, and not District 62, which used to be based around Greene County."

He said the decision was not made lightly, and that he had been encouraged by leaders in the new District 45, and others, to move west.

The OLD map is pictured below, followed by the NEW map

The 2011-21 version of Indiana House District 45 is seen in orange and Indiana House District 62 is in green. Most of Greene County was part of District 62 during the past decade and the district included a smaller portion of Monroe County. Photo courtesy of Indiana House Republicans

The New, 2022 Indiana House District 45 is shown in blue instead of District 62 District 62 will include more of Monroe County than before, and Brown County and part of Jackson County have been added. Photo courtesy of Indiana House Republicans

"Monroe County GOP Chairman William Ellis also encouraged me in this process, after our efforts to keep western Monroe and Greene together were ignored by the Statehouse," Ellington said.

He said the move to Bloomfield was planned for several years, since he bought the old mill to convert it into condos and offices.

"COVID-19 prevented me from finishing work on my residence and moving into it. Work restarted," his email said.

According to records in Greene Circuit Court and the county auditor's office, the 7,200-square-foot building where Ellington now lives at 760 W. Main St. in Bloomfield sits on a 150-by-281-foot lot at the west edge of town.

Dealer Auction Access Inc. owned the old mill where Ellington has parked his recreational vehicle and now calls home. The Chicago-based business paid $80,000 for the building in 2009, erected walls for 10-by-10-foot offices and rented them to out-of-state car dealers required to have an actual office and address to do business in Indiana.

The business faded away and the building owners didn't pay property taxes due in 2015 and 2016, records show. So it was put up for auction at Greene County's fall tax sale held at the courthouse on Sept. 15, 2017.

The bidding started at $34,905.11, the amount of back taxes owed. But no one bid. So the property reverted to the county commissioners, who then offered it for sale in March 2018 at what's called a Commissioners’ Certificate Sale.

In Indiana, properties not sold at the tax sale are put under the control of the county commissioners, who then sell the parcels at a public sale for less than the accumulated tax debt required at the fall auction.

The commissioners set a discounted price for unsold properties, then publish the reduced minimum bids in the local newspaper before the certificate sale is held.

The old woolen mill sold for $80,000 in 2009, went unsold for nearly $35,000 at the tax sale and then was purchased by Ellington for $3,490.51, one-tenth of the unpaid tax bill and 4% of the structure's value in 2009. The county's three Republican commissioners set the price and approved the sale.

To serve in the Indiana House of Representatives, "a candidate must be registered to vote in the election district the person seeks to represent not later than the deadline for filing the declaration or petition of candidacy or certificate of nomination," the law states.

Ray Williams, Ellington's legislative assistant at the Statehouse, said on Thursday that he was unaware of Ellington's change of address or why he moved. Thursday night, there was a recreational vehicle parked in the gravel parking lot at the old mill and a light on inside the building.

Ellington was appointed to the District 62 seat in 2015. A retired firefighter and former Monroe County Council member, he owns a tree cutting business, demolition service and horse stable. He said those businesses will continue from his That Road property.

For the current legislative session, he is vice chairman of the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and serves on the Local Government Committee and Natural Resources Committee.

Click link to read the story on the Herald-Times website: https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/local/2021/10/22/indiana-house-of-represntatives-jeff-ellington-moves-greene-county-redistricting-bruce-borders/6134216001/