Chapter 5: The Protracted Email Access Lawsuit
Of all the legal controversies surrounding Commissioner Gramarossa's current term, the email access dispute stands out as a protracted and costly legal battle that was pursued in direct defiance of her own county attorney's explicit legal advice and repeated warnings from the Indiana Attorney General.
Origins of the Dispute
On January 5, 2023 — just five days after taking office — LaPorte County Prosecutor Sean Fagan made his first formal request for access to the email archives of his predecessor, former Prosecutor John Lake. Fagan needed the emails to reconstruct evidence in inherited criminal cases after a burst water line had destroyed hard copy files. Under Indiana state law, the emails on the county server were unambiguously the property of the office of the county prosecutor, not the county commissioners [1].
Commissioners Gramarossa and Mrozinski voted to table the request in a 2-to-1 vote in March 2023, with Commissioner Haney dissenting. Their own county attorney, Andrew B. Jones, advised them that denying the request was legally untenable, stating unequivocally: "He's entitled to all of them. These things belong to him. They don't belong to his office." [2] The Indiana Attorney General's Office, through Chief Counsel John Walls, issued a written warning to the commissioners, stating in no uncertain terms: "Prosecutor Fagan is legally entitled to these email records." [2]
Defiance and Lawsuit
At the April 5, 2023 meeting, Commissioners Gramarossa and Mrozinski again refused to comply. Gramarossa accused Commission President Haney and County Attorney Jones of being politically aligned with Fagan and walked out of the meeting, stating, "I'm at a point where I'm feeling emotionally and physically bullied." [2]
On June 2, 2023, Attorney General Todd Rokita filed suit in LaPorte Circuit Court on behalf of Prosecutor Fagan. The lawsuit sought a court order to compel the commissioners to turn over the emails, a declaratory judgment that the emails had been unlawfully withheld, and a forensic audit of the county server. The suit also noted that failure to comply with a prosecutor's lawful request for office emails could constitute official misconduct, a Level 6 felony under Indiana law [1].
Prolonged Litigation and Settlement
The case dragged on for nearly three years. On October 1, 2025, the LaPorte County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to approve a confidential settlement. The email records were to be provided as originally requested. The lawsuit, which lasted from June 2023 to October 2025, was entirely the product of Gramarossa and Mrozinski's refusal to comply with a clear legal obligation [3].
References
[1] South Bend Tribune. (2023, June 15). Prosecutor, Indiana attorney general sue LaPorte County commissioners over access to emails. https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2023/06/15/prosecutor-sean-fagan-indiana-attorney-general-todd-rokita-file-suit-on-laporte-county-commissioners/70325232007/
[2] Hometown News Now. (2023, April 5). Commissioners Risk Lawsuit Over Emails. https://hometownnewsnow.com/local-news/683137
[3] LaPorte County Board of Commissioners Meeting, October 1, 2025. Fagan v. La Porte County Board of Commissioners — Settlement Approved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqE8aEGJGlg; La Porte Herald-Dispatch. Agreement reached in request for emails. https://www.lpheralddispatch.com/news/local/agreement-reached-in-request-for-emails/article_e0a242f2-b307-517b-b372-59cf11f8b098.html