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Kosciusko County Councilwoman Kimberly Cates was arrested early Saturday morning in Noble County for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated with a prior.
She was booked into the Noble County Jail at 1:45 a.m. for the level 6 felony, according to the jail officer there. Her bond was set at $2,500.
No further information on her arrest was available as of Saturday morning.
Cates, 62, Syracuse, the incumbent for District 1, won the Republican May primary with 797 votes over challenger Thaddeus DuBois’s 479 votes. She is uncontested in the November general election.
The deadline for a candidate to voluntarily withdraw from the general election ballot was July 15, according to Kosciusko County Election Board Republican Party representative and attorney C. Austin Rovenstine.
If, after that deadline, a candidate who has been nominated by a party is disqualified from the ballot for, among other reasons, a felony conviction, then either I.C. 3-13-1 or I.C. 3-13-2 would allow the party to choose a replacement, depending on how far out the disqualification is from the general election.
An arrest for OWI with a prior that happened in late September may not be resolved by early November, Rovenstine said.
The deadline for another major party to slate a candidate to be on the ballot because they had no candidate file in the primary was July 6.
Prior
This was Cates’ second incident in a little over two years involving her being under the influence of alcohol while operating a motor vehicle.
The prior incident occurred around 11 p.m. March 9, 2024, when a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy was traveling north on Ind. 13, just north of North Webster, according to the probable cause affidavit in that case. The deputy noticed a vehicle in front of him weaving within its lane and frequently crossing the road’s fog line. The deputy followed the vehicle for 5 miles and witnessed the driver continuing to drive erratically.
He pulled the vehicle, driven by Cates, over, near the intersection of Ind. 13 and North Grandview Drive, Syracuse. She exhibited physical signs of intoxication, failed three sobriety tests and was unable to provide a sample through a portable breath test. She consented to a certified chemical test and was taken by law enforcement to a local hospital for a blood draw. Prior to the blood draw, Cates’ vehicle was moved to a nearby business and secured, the court documents state. She was then taken back to her residence by deputies after the blood draw.
Cates registered a 0.20 BAC.
On Aug. 30, 2024, Cates pled guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated - endangering a person, a class A misdemeanor. A second misdemeanor OWI charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
She was sentenced by Marshall Superior Court II Judge Dean Colvin to 365 days in the Kosciusko County Jail, with six days to be served in KCJ and 359 days on non-reporting probation. Her probation was under the jurisdiction of the Kosciusko County Probation Department.
The court suspended Cates’ driving privileges for three months, with the term of suspension already completed by Cates by her sentencing.
At her sentencing, defense attorney Scott Reust called Cates to testify and she said after she was arrested, she sought alcohol and substance abuse treatment at the Bowen Center on her own accord. She also had an ignition interlock device on her vehicle for almost six months.
