INDIANAPOLIS -- The county's GOP chairman says if a prosecutor is going to investigate whether Lawrence city workers did anything illegal when they helped Thomas Schneider's sheriff campaign last week, the campaign of Schneider's opponent also should be investigated.

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Marion County Republican Chairman John Keeler (pictured, left) produced an affidavit Thursday alleging a city vehicle was improperly used to carry signs promoting the sheriff campaign of Frank Anderson (pictured, below right), a Democrat.

The allegation came a day after an RTV6 report showed six Lawrence city parks employees loading Schneider campaign yard signs into city vehicles on the afternoon of Oct. 11.

State law prohibits public workers from engaging in private work while they are on the clock for their public jobs. Schneider, who is Lawrence's mayor and a Republican, told RTV6 that the parks employees took themselves off the clock when they worked for his campaign Oct. 11.

Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman has asked Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Schneider campaign. Magnus-Stinson was expected make the appointment by the end of Friday.

Newman said Thursday he also would examine the allegation against Anderson's campaign, and perhaps would ask the special prosecutor to investigate it.

Keeler said he made the allegation against the Anderson camp "to show that the same conduct is going on in both sides of the campaign."

"If we're going to stoop to that level, then we want to show the public that the Anderson campaign has utilized the same tactics," Keeler said at a press conference at the GOP's county headquarters.

"These things, although they're unfortunate, seem to happen in every campaign," Keeler said. "What is really important in this campaign is the issues."

Schneider: Lawrence Workers Deducted Time

Schneider (picturted, left) told RTV6 that the Lawrence parks employees deducted an hour from their timecards when they helped his campaign Oct. 11 (pictured, below right).

The employees' supervisor, Eric Martin, said he was unaware of any timecard deductions, but he said the campaign activity was done after work.

"We were to deliver (the signs) after work, and we did that," Martin said.

Schneider said no parks employee violated law or city policy. He said city policy gives workers unlimited use of take-home city vehicles.

"They know what their status is with those vehicles and how they can be used," Schneider said. "But there's nothing ... that says they can't haul a political sign in the back of it.

"The thing is, we haven't done anything lawfully wrong here. But we have done something here that does not and will not look good to the public."

Schneider said he was apologetic because of the way the Oct. 11 political work may have been perceived.