Cop Killer's Probation Officer Fired For Dereliction Of Duty

Billie Ruffner, a 28-year veteran probation officer of the Indiana Department of Correction, is Exhibit A for a career government bureaucrat who has outlived her usefulness after she failed to keep tabs on accused cop killer Thomas Hardy. Even after the 11-time convicted felon reported to her that he had been arrested for theft again while on probation, Ruffner did nothing to ensure he was sent back to prison after he had been mistakenly released in December because someone else at DOC failed to enter him in the system after he was released from prison for his last conviction for theft. Hardy later used a gun to shoot four bullets into Officer David Moore, including two fatal shots to the head, during a traffic stop. The Star's John Tuohy says DOC fired Ruffner last week for dereliction of duty.

Billie Ruffner, a 28-year veteran of DOC, was terminated for dereliction of duty, said Deputy Commissioner of Re-entry Randy Koester.


Ruffner had been on unpaid leave since Jan. 25 when it was revealed that her failure to do monthly checks on Hardy allowed him to go free after an arrest in November.

Hardy was charged with shooting Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer David Moore on Jan. 23. Moore died three days later. Hardy was jailed in November on theft charges and if Ruffner had checked his status he likely would have stayed locked up for violating his parole.

Instead, Hardy was released.

Hardy told Ruffner in January that he had been arrested and even then, she didn’t follow up or report it to her superiors, Koester said.