A Marion County judge has denied a request to block Center Township Constable Kenneth Allen from exercising the powers of his office while a lawsuit challenging his residency proceeds.

Marion Superior Court Judge John M.T. Chavis II denied Melvin E. Hall’s motion for preliminary injunction on Friday. The ruling came in findings of fact, conclusions of law and an order signed the day after an evidentiary hearing.

Hall is an independent candidate for Center Township constable in the Nov. 3 general election. He filed a verified complaint for writ of quo warranto on Aug. 26, alleging that Allen forfeited the office by living outside the township. The Indiana Constitution requires township officers to reside in their townships while in office. A Democratic Party caucus appointed Allen constable on Nov. 8, 2024.

Chavis denied Hall’s request for a temporary restraining order on Aug. 28 and set an expedited hearing. The hearing was moved from Sept. 14 to Sept. 17 after Allen’s attorney, Christopher Bandy, entered an appearance and sought a continuance. Hall represented himself.

The judge cited two independent grounds for the denial.

First, the court found that Hall lacks standing. Under Indiana law, a private person bringing a quo warranto action must show an interest in the office distinct from that of the general public. The court noted that Hall was not a candidate in the 2024 caucus that selected Allen. It said his interest as a 2026 candidate depends on an election that has not yet occurred. The order also noted that Hall’s complaint concedes the office would not pass to him if Allen were removed.

Second, the court found that Hall had not shown a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits. Citing the Indiana Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Teising v. State, the order states that forfeiture requires proof of two things: that the officeholder intended to abandon his township residence, and that he established a new one elsewhere. The court found that Hall’s evidence addressed Allen’s physical presence, not his intent.

Hall introduced surveillance reports from Photo Facts, an Illinois firm. The reports placed Allen at a Christina Lane home in Lawrence Township, titled to his wife, on 11 days in July. They documented him checking mail, rolling trash cans to the curb and receiving packages.

Allen testified that the visits were to his wife, that his own vehicles were inoperable and that he never intended to abandon his Center Township residence. He offered leases, utility bills, voter registration, Bureau of Motor Vehicles records and his 2026 declaration of candidacy, all listing Center Township addresses. The court found that he had rebutted any inference of abandonment.

The findings also note a roughly 19-month gap in documentary evidence of Allen’s Center Township residency, from April 2023 to November 2025. That period includes his swearing-in. The findings further note that Allen held overlapping leases on two downtown apartments from March through August 2026. The lease for his current apartment is one page long and reflects no security deposit.

The court excluded a December 2024 Fox59 report on Allen’s residency as hearsay.

The docket shows that Hall filed dozens of subpoenas, notices and motions before the hearing. The court denied his requests for an Indiana State Police protective detail, for reconsideration of the TRO denial and for shortened discovery deadlines. On Sept. 14, it granted a motion to quash a subpoena Hall had issued to Center Township Small Claims Court Judge Brenda A. Roper.

On Sept. 8, Hall filed a notice of intent to seek ballot-removal relief following the injunction ruling. On Friday, the same day the order was issued, he filed a motion for judicial notice. He also filed a notice disputing a factual representation made by Allen’s counsel.

The court ordered the parties to submit a proposed case management order within 30 days. The quo warranto action remains pending.