MARTINSVILLE — The Morgan County Public Library filed a counterclaim against Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott and his wife, Laura, in Morgan County Superior Court on Tuesday.
The ongoing litigation concerns a building on Washington Street in downtown Martinsville now owned by the Morgan County History Center and Museum.
In April, the Elliotts filed a lawsuit against the Library, the Morgan County Veterans Memorial and the History Center.
The Elliotts’ lawsuit claims that the Library made an agreement with the Elliotts in 2015 that the latter could take over 75 and 77 E. Washington St. — a building then owned by the Library — if the Elliotts would form a nonprofit business entity, occupy and rehabilitate the buildings located on the property, and make the space available to the community as a community co-work space to be used free of charge.
Resulting from this was The Source Cowork, LLC, a for-profit business that listed Daniel Elliott as its CEO. It was administratively dissolved in May 2025.
The Elliotts’ lawsuit accuses the nonprofits of breach of contract and “unjust enrichment,” after the Library deeded the property to the Veterans Memorial, which then deeded the building to the History Center in late 2024.
The Library has asserted that it never made an agreement to give the building to the Elliotts. A written agreement between the two parties does not exist. The Elliotts have previously alleged that the agreement between the two parties was a verbal agreement witnessed by lawyers.
The Elliotts claimed that from 2015 to 2024, they put $250,000 worth of improvements into the building, and they hope to be reimbursed for the money they allegedly spent or to have the building given to them.
The defendants in the original lawsuit have all expressed doubt that $250,000 worth of work was put into the building, and the suit documents thus far contain no receipts or other proof of work.
When the Elliotts filed their suit back in April, local attorney Dale Coffey — who represents the Library — told The Correspondent a countersuit would likely be on the way.
That statement came to fruition this week, as the Library’s countersuit against the Elliotts says the claims in the latter’s lawsuit are “frivolous, unreasonable and/or groundless.”
“The Morgan County Public Library believes that (the Elliotts) and The Source CoWork, LLC, have brought this cause of action in bad faith against the Morgan County Public Library and as a result the Morgan County Public Library has been damaged, and has incurred costs, expenses and attorney fees,” the counterclaim reads.
The counterclaim concludes by urging the court to award the Library damages including costs, expenses and attorney fees.
Also on Tuesday, the Library filed an answer to the Elliotts’ amended complaint, filed at the end of August.
The Elliotts’ original lawsuit brought a claim against the Morgan County Public Library Foundation, an entity related but separate from the Library itself. The Foundation had no ownership over the building in dispute, and so the Elliotts dropped their claim against the Foundation and filed a new claim against the Library itself in August.
The Library’s answer to the complaint is the same as their original answer to claims made by the Elliotts. The Library denies that an agreement existed between itself and the Elliotts, and it denies all wrongdoing.
The parties involved in the lawsuits will meet on Zoom for a pretrial conference on November 18. The Hendricks County Bailiff will forward the Zoom link to all counsel. The dispute moved to Hendricks County over the summer, as none of the parties involved in the dispute could agree on a Morgan County judge.
