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An Oldenburg nunnery tour. The 2025 presidential inauguration. A high school debate competition. Annual industry conferences.
State officials logged roughly $97,000 in state expenses for trips across Indiana and the nation, according to new reports filed Wednesday.
That count includes Gov. Mike Braun, his cabinet secretaries and all statewide officeholders during the 2025 fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. Of the 19 reports reviewed by the Indiana Capital Chronicle, many officials had only been in office for part of the fiscal year.
A new state law mandates reporting every Oct. 1 on travel expenses for trips “taken in an official capacity,” including whether state funding was used to cover costs.
The legislature passed the bill on the heels of controversy, when Secretary of State Diego Morales left the country for an international trip without disclosing who paid for his travel. He attended the National Association of Software and Service Companies Global Conference.
Following pushback, Morales said he reimbursed expenses for the trip to India using personal funds. He reported another trip to Vancouver in September for a securities conference but said no state funds were used.
Morales’ report didn’t include a May trip to Hungary, which he repeatedly emphasized was a personal visit in various social media posts. He also said the trip was paid for by a conservative group.
He documented another 19 trips out of state, including an association conference for secretaries of state in Puerto Rico. Nine of those trips were to Chicago, mostly to meet with foreign dignitaries. The San Juan trip cost $4,241 and was the most expensive claim, coming out of his office’s general fund.
Of the nearly $33,000 Morales reported spending, roughly a third was devoted to monthly fuel costs. The widely traveled state official previously boasted about his in-state travel, saying he completed the 92-county circuit faster than other statewide officeholders upon taking office.
Some officials provided very specific details on their travel, such as the groups they spoke to or met with. But Attorney General Todd Rokita listed only “official business” for his 100 events. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith generally categorized his trips as “attend event” or “meeting,” and included an annual horse racing banquet.
Cabinet secretaries also varied on what they shared in the reports. For example, one cabinet secretary included a “Secretaries Retreat” on June 24 at the Indiana State Museum, but not every one of her counterparts did the same. Some included total spending, while others didn’t.
Other statewide officials
State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla spent the second-most on travel — almost $12,000 on 71 trips. Most of them were to meet with county auditors all around Indiana. She also toured a local homeless shelter, served as a panelist or speaker at various events and visited former Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Her most expensive single trip cost about $1,500 to attend the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers annual conference in North Carolina. She also went to Ohio, Orlando, Anchorage, Washington, D.C. and Denver.
State Treasurer Dan Elliott racked up $9,300 on more than 50 trips. His report was not specific, often citing a “public event,” “conference” or “meeting.”
His largest trip cost $1,470 — to attend “official events” in Washington, D.C. for Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Elliott also went to New York City, Orlando and Scottsdale.
Braun reported more than 144 trips for just over $7,800. Over half of that spending was at Trine University, a private school in Angola, where he was invited to give the May commencement address.
Flying back from Angola to his private home in Jasper in an Indiana State Police helicopter cost $4,200, which came from ISP’s Aviation Rotary Fund. For the commencement, he claimed another $19, which came from ISP’s Motor & Carrier Fund. Braun always travels with a security detail provided by the Indiana State Police.
Most reports calculated fuel reimbursements monthly, but Braun logged it by trip — potentially inflating the number of reported trips. Many of those line items were under a dollar.
The state’s chief executive also claimed two ice cream expenses, at Glover’s in Frankfort and Zaharako’s in Columbus, for $23 and $33, respectively.
He reported visiting Washington, D.C., four times — for the inauguration and meetings with federal officials — but no other out-of-state travel. Braun, a former U.S. senator, also has access to campaign accounts.
Beckwith submitted $4,300, all for fuel expenses related to attending more than 100 events around Indiana.
He listed five out-of-state trips: an “Army event” in Kentucky and speaking events in Virginia, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan. But none of those events included specific costs.
Rokita totaled $4,650 in expenses for 100 trips with his biggest cost being $2,237 for a Washington, D.C. visit in September 2025. He had nine out-of-state trips, including seven to the nation’s capital and others to Las Vegas and Yuma, Arizona.
Cabinet secretaries
All eight cabinet secretaries submitted reports alongside the superintendent of Indiana State Police and adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard. The latter two categories include former appointees alongside current officials.
One secretary — Mike Speedy, who oversees business affairs — didn’t include any costs in his report, though his 29 total trips included the presidential inauguration and a nunnery tour with a local state lawmaker.
Management and Budget Secretary Lisa Hershman and Braun’s chief of staff Josh Kelley reported no official travel during the period. Secretary Gloria Sachdev claimed just $73 in travel expenses related to a Washington, D.C. hotel stay for a meeting of health and human services secretaries.
The most widely traveled cabinet member was Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, with 71 trips, followed by former Secretary of Public Safety Jennifer-Ruth Green, with 65 trips reported. Jenner’s report covers a year of travel while Green started in late January.
Jenner extensively logged her statewide travel, including several Indianapolis-area speaking engagements alongside dozens of school site visits across the state. Of the $7,198 she reported in total travel expenses, $1,872 of it was devoted to monthly fuel card transactions. Her two most expensive trips — to Austin, Texas, and San Diego, California, — cost $1,377 and $1,457, respectively, where she spoke in an official capacity at national conferences.
Green reported spending $3,237, though nearly all of that was spent on gas with the exception of two Washington, D.C. trips. The March trip says only “Washington, D.C. Meetings” for $842 while the April trip is for “GHSAC,” or the Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council, and cost $1,577.
Another notable trip was Secretary of Commerce David Adams Montreal visit for $1,288, which he categorized as a “Business attraction meeting for Bombardier based in Montreal.” Bombardier is a Canadian aerospace manufacturer. Those funds came from the Indiana Economic Development Foundation’s purse, not state funds. Private businesses donate to the opaque account, which Braun has vowed to close.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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