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WHAT THIS LEG COULD NOT SETTLE, AND WHAT WOULD SETTLE IT
GAP-OSGOV-1 — the incorporation date and instrument. Bounded only: the town was unincorporated in 1907 (Howard) and in 1917 (Bowen atlas), and incorporated by May 3, 1993. Settlers: the incorporation petition and county order in the St. Joseph County Commissioners' records, or the town's earliest ordinance book. GAP-OSGOV-2 — the current clerk-treasurer. The term from January 1, 2024 has no holder named in any official source reached; a 2025 compensation line names a Christina Miller as "Treasurer Clerk," unconfirmed as the elected officer. Settlers: the Schedule of Officials in the State Board of Accounts' next audit of the town; the town's minutes and salary ordinances; the county clerk's certified 2023 returns. GAP-OSGOV-3 — the police department's founding and the marshals before Thomas Hixon, and Hixon's start date. Settlers: the town's minute books and salary ordinances; the audits' Schedules of Officials. GAP-OSGOV-4 — the volunteer fire department's dissolution date, and with it the department's founding year and chiefs' line. Settlers: the town's minutes recording the territory agreement or dissolution; the fire territory's formation filings; the department's own records. GAP-OSGOV-5 — the municipal election returns of 2023, 2019, and 2015 (candidates, parties, totals, contested or not), and official confirmation of the November 2, 2027 date. Settler: the St. Joseph County Clerk's canvasses and the Indiana Election Division's municipal returns. GAP-OSGOV-6 — the council before 2012 and between 2019 and 2023: no president or member before Jim Loney's presidency, and no full membership after Debra Davis's presidency ends December 31, 2018, until the 2024 term. Settler: the town's minute books; the audits' Schedules of Officials in the audit years between. GAP-OSGOV-7 — the town's water and sewer course: whether town-wide municipal water or sewer service was ever built, and when. Settlers: the town's ordinance books; Mishawaka Utilities' and the St. Joseph County Regional Water and Sewer District's extension and service records. GAP-OSGOV-8 — the 1993 annexed territory: its acreage, legal description, and effective date; and any annexation besides the 1993 ordinance. Settlers: the town's ordinance book; the county recorder's annexation filings. GAP-OSGOV-9 — the Penn Township trustee result of November 3, 2026 (Portolese v. Duncan). Settler: the County Clerk's certified precinct summary. Two spelling variances ride open from the entries: "Denese" against "Denise" Thornburg (settler: the officer's own filings), and "Marcia" against "Marsha" Kirk (settler: the remonstrance's caption in the Superior Court file).
Sources:
- The search record of this section, November 2026, as itemized in the entries above.