ELIZABETHTOWN — The Elizabethtown clerk-treasurer is denying any wrongdoing after being arrested after a Monday night town council meeting.
Shirley Nugent, 50, was booked into the Bartholomew County Jail at 7:16 p.m Monday on a preliminary charge of battery, jail personnel confirmed. She was released early Tuesday morning on a $355 cash bond.
The arrest seems to be the latest episode in a feud between Nugent and town council member Levi Brown that records indicate goes back to at least October 2021.
The 6 p.m. town council meeting had already adjourned when Brown said he had matters he wanted to discuss, including criticism of a town business that has not been accused of wrongdoing, Nugent said. While she and other council members were trying to clear the town hall, Brown refused to leave, the clerk-treasurer said.
Since she was the only one with a key to the town hall at 104 West St., Nugent said she felt she had to stay as further allegations were made among those still in the building. She claimed that Levi Brown called the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department to accuse her of striking his wife, Brandy Brown. When investigators found a red welt on Brandy Brown’s lower right back, Nugent said that’s when she was placed under arrest.
There were multiple recordings of the meeting, including a Facebook Live feed, that Levi Brown said will back up his story.
“(Nugent) was mad and she hit my wife,” Brown said. “It wasn’t like a full-fledged punch or anything like that. She came up from behind yelling and screaming and cussing.”
Brown said he has been made to feel like an outcast on the town board.
“All I try to do on the town board is inform everybody and be fair with the town,” Brown said. “They don’t like me, and have been trying to get rid of me.”
The conflict may go back to when Levi Brown was cited for having too many broken-down vehicles in his yard. Online court documents include a document listing Brown as a contact. The document alleges other council members and town residents are also guilty of breaking town ordinances, and included several accusations against Nugent.
According to Nugent, Brown had also used social media to make false claims that prompted her to sue Levi and Brandy Brown for defamation of character.
In Bartholomew Circuit Court, a mediation agreement dated Aug. 25, 2023 stated the Browns agreed to refrain from making any public statement about past criminal conduct committed by Nugent.
They also made a public acknowledgment Nugent has never been charged with any crime against children. But Nugent herself was also ordered to stop making public statements about the Browns.
The agreement also states the Browns and Nugent are only allowed to have contact with each other during town board meetings. It calls for a $1,000 penalty for each violation of the agreement.
