Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s office, located inside the statehouse, appeared closed and vacant on Friday, July 11.

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s statehouse office has been repeatedly closed during public business hours in recent weeks — at times with no signage posted and no staff inside — even as Gov. Mike Braun has ordered a broad return to in-person work for state employees.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle visited the lieutenant governor’s office six times between late June and mid-July and found it dark or locked on four occasions. Three of the closures — June 20, June 27 and July 11 — fell on Fridays.

Internal office communications obtained by the Capital Chronicle appeared to show staff were allowed to work remotely on some of those days.

One Friday, June 20 message, for example, indicated that, “Due to the LG travel schedule — the office will be closed and everyone may work from home. Please update your calendars accordingly.”

Jim Kehoe, a spokesperson for the lieutenant governor’s office, told the Capital Chronicle Monday, June 30 that the office “just happened to be closed on those days because of staffing.”

“It was really just coincidence that it happened two Fridays in a row,” he said. “I do not anticipate that happening again, and if it does it will be the exception.”

But nearly two weeks later, on July 11, another Friday, the Capital Chronicle again found the office locked, with no lights on and no staff inside.

The office was open on July 18, with at least one staffer visibly present.

The lieutenant governor’s office was also closed on July 3, a Thursday, for what staff described as an “office field trip” to a farm in Noblesville. A sign posted that day read, “Sorry we missed you! Our team is currently unavailable due to an all-staff meeting. Please scan here if you would like to schedule an appointment.”

In a message to staff that week, office leadership advised that “if you aren’t joining us at the farm — work from home cuz the office will be closed.”

ndiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s office, located inside the statehouse, appeared closed and vacant on Friday, June 27. Photo from Niki Kelly, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

In a follow-up email to the Capital Chronicle, Kehoe said the office’s approach was consistent with the governor’s direction: “Our work from home policy complies with Braun’s executive order.”

The state transparency portal shows the Lieutenant Governor’s office has 39 employees split between offices in the Statehouse and an adjacent office building.

Asked about the closures, Braun reaffirmed his push to get employees back to their offices.

“Unless there’s a good reason for that, where it may make no difference … to really get things done, you’ve got to collaborate,” Braun said Thursday. “And I saw so many instances and some actual recordings I heard of folks working from home that would have been confusing even to see which day they were answering the phone.”

He added that there are a few jobs where remote work makes sense but said “most of them, you need to be together to collaborate. You’re already paying the expenses — the leases and the buildings and the upkeep. Why not? Doesn’t make sense.”

Braun’s back-to-work executive order, issued Tuesday, Jan. 14, called for a sweeping end to hybrid work arrangements and emphasized a return to daily in-person staffing across all state agencies.

The policy, which took full effect Tuesday, July 1, specifically instructed agency heads to eliminate regular remote work on Fridays and to ensure the public has full access to services during standard business hours.

The order applies to all executive-branch employees, including staff in the lieutenant governor’s office, unless exempted for operational reasons.

“When it comes to other state office holders, they’re independent,” Braun said. “I’ve been very clear: I want to get things done and focus on kitchen table issues.”