The Valparaiso woman charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly tampering with Commissioner Jim Biggs’ campaign signs is the former director of the Memorial Opera House, a county official confirmed Wednesday.

Megan E. Sutton, 42, was booked into the Porter County Jail at 3:49 p.m. Tuesday, according to jail records. Sutton, who faces a Class A misdemeanor charge, has since been bonded out of jail.

Sutton, according to an email from county human relations director Rhonda Young, served as opera director from Sept. 18, 2023, until May 31, when he resigned. Her salary was $68,011.

“The opera director reports directly to the board of commissioners,” Biggs, a Chesterton Republican seeking his third consecutive term as county commissioner, said Wednesday. He previously served two terms as a commissioner and is a former member of the county council.

Sutton allegedly used spray paint to deface the signs, causing an estimated $900 in damage, according to charging documents. The signs were damaged between Sept. 22 and Oct. 16, according to the charges.

Biggs said in an Oct. 23 phone interview that all of the signs were in Liberty Township, and residents who are home to the first two signs contacted him after they were damaged. These were at County Road 900 North and Meridian Road and 900 North and Calumet Boulevard.

A witness contacted Biggs about the third sign, also on Calumet Avenue near the 49er Drive-in, after he allegedly saw someone painting the sign across the street and went outside, recording with his cell phone and yelling to the person until he left, Biggs said.

Signs have been defaced with crude language and imagery. Biggs said he is willing to drop the charges if Sutton gets counseling.

“Given her age and the artwork she used on the signs, there are obviously issues there and I’m the least of them,” Biggs said.

A special prosecutor will be assigned to the case, according to online court filings. Sutton does not yet have an initial hearing date.

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