The Galveston Board of Public Safety voted Sept. 4 to terminate Town Marshal Nick Bowyer after a disciplinary hearing focused on evidence-management problems, missed school-route patrols and threatening statements toward another town employee. The decision ended a five-month administrative leave that began in late March.
The board sustained five disciplinary counts against Bowyer, according to WRTV. The findings included inconsistent organization in the evidence room, unsecured items, inadequate identifying information and unresolved discrepancies. The board determined that Bowyer, as marshal, was responsible for supervising evidence storage, documentation and tracking.
The evidence-related findings followed an independent inventory and audit conducted after Bowyer's suspension. Investigators found differences between the physical location of items and departmental tracking records, according to the report. WISH-TV reported that Indiana law requires government agencies to disclose the factual basis for disciplinary actions such as suspensions, demotions and terminations, making the board's specific findings part of the public record.
A Threat Complaint and a Scheduling Directive
The board separately found that Bowyer made threatening and intimidating statements toward town employee Michael Claar in October 2025, conduct it said was inconsistent with the standards expected of a town marshal. The Galveston Town Council had also directed Bowyer to stagger department personnel schedules to improve coverage and ensure officers covered designated school routes. According to the board, he did not consistently maintain that schedule or provide the required route coverage.
Evidence standards and staffing pressures
The Indiana State Police says its Evidence Specialists are responsible for properly marking and sealing evidence, ensuring secure storage, coordinating its release or destruction, and maintaining tracking records, according to Indiana State Police. Those functions provide a professional benchmark for the evidence-room responsibilities at issue in Galveston, although the information available here does not identify a separate statewide municipal evidence-storage rule or describe the town's staffing or funding structure.
The scheduling dispute also occurred amid broader recruitment challenges in the region. WRTV reported that Kokomo's police department had 88 officers at the end of April, compared with a staffing target of about 100. That figure does not establish Galveston's staffing level, but it illustrates the broader personnel pressures facing Central Indiana agencies as they try to maintain routine patrol and school-area coverage.
Bowyer had a long history with Galveston town government before any of this. He served on the Galveston Town Council starting in December 2017, moved into a role as deputy marshal in May 2019, and was appointed town marshal on July 21, 2020, at a pay rate of $30 an hour. During his tenure, he worked with county law enforcement on significant cases, including a December 2022 drug investigation that ultimately led to a 20-year prison sentence for a Galveston resident dealing controlled substances, per Cass County Online.
No Criminal Charges, but Termination Stands
Bowyer was placed on administrative leave effective March 30 while the personnel matter was reviewed. The station reported that Town Attorney Braden Dean said police operations continued during the leave using existing department personnel and standard procedures. Indiana State Police investigated the allegations, but Cass County Prosecutor Noah Schafer declined to file criminal charges in July, saying the evidence did not meet the standard required to support them.
The criminal and employment proceedings therefore produced different outcomes without being the same process. Schafer concluded that the evidence was insufficient for prosecution, while the town board, applying its administrative disciplinary process, sustained five counts and terminated Bowyer. The board's hearing took place about two months after prosecutors declined to bring charges.
Bowyer's termination from the marshal's post did not end his other law enforcement employment. He is listed as a sergeant with the Cass County Sheriff's Office, and Sheriff Ed Schroder told the outlet that Bowyer remained employed and was not placed on leave during Galveston's investigation. Bowyer has not responded to previous requests for comment, and the outlet's I-Team said it also contacted his attorney.
Small Town, Small Force
Galveston is an incorporated town in Jackson Township, Cass County, sitting along U.S. 35 between Logansport and Kokomo, with a population of 1,288 as of the 2020 Census. In a town that size, a single marshal's office carries outsized weight for day-to-day safety concerns like school-route patrols and shift coverage, which is part of why the scheduling directive from the town council became one of the disciplinary counts against Bowyer. Whether Bowyer will pursue any procedural appeal of the board's decision remains an open question.
