Oregon DOJ clears DCSO of election law allegations

The Oregon Department of Justice has cleared Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office of election law violations alleged by Sheriff Shane Nelson’s recent election challenger, Deputy Eric Kozowski, the sheriff’s office’s legal counsel said Tuesday.

Legal Counsel Darryl Nakahira said that “on November 22, the Oregon Department of Justice Civil Enforcement Division contacted the sheriff’s office to report finding no evidence of elections law violations during the 2016 contested election for the Office of Deschutes County Sheriff and that DOJ was concluding its investigation and concluding the case.”

On May 20, Kozowski reported to Nelson via email that he and supporters within the sheriff’s office were being subjected to unlawful retaliation by supervisors in response to Kozowski running for sheriff.

Three days later, Nelson asked that DOJ conduct an independent investigation of Kozowski’s allegations of sheriff’s office supervisors violating state elections laws. DOJ accepted the request for an internal investigation relating to ORS 162.415 (official misconduct in the first degree) and 2013 ORS 260.665 (undue influence to affect registration, voting, candidacy, signing petition).

The DOJ investigator interviewed Sheriff Nelson, Deputy Kozowski and 12 other sheriff’s office employees regarding Kozowski’s allegations.

Nakahira released a Nov. 22 letter to Nelson from Senior Assistant Attorney General Patrick Flanagan that said DOJ investigator Marlene Olson “was unable to corroborate any specific instances of undue influence on the job, nor was she able to substantiate concerns regarding fear of retaliation based upon on- or off-duty political activity.”

“While our investigation shows that there may be a tense workplace that was exacerbated by a subordinate deputy challenging the incumbent in this election, there is no evidence that any election laws were violated,” Flanagan wrote. “Therefore, this investigation is concluded and the case is closed.”

Here’s a link to the DOJ letter: https://sheriff.deschutes.org/DOJ%20Letter.pdf

Nakahira said the release of the state’s letter and findings was delayed nearly a month because he and Nelson only recently had a chance to discuss and review the DOJ investigation’s conclusion.

Nakahira also noted that the DOJ had stated that “on or about June 13th you (Sheriff Nelson) contacted Michael Slauson,” but sheriff’s office records indicated Nelson contacted DOJ on May 23.

Nelson offered this response to the DOJ’s decision: “I take these allegations very seriously and respect the absolute right of all citizens to run for public office. I thank the Oregon Department of Justice for agreeing to have their office investigate these allegations.”

“In an effort to be fully transparent and keep our community fully informed, we will be issuing more press releases to the news media,” Nelson said. “We view this as a positive approach and it is essential to keep our citizens apprised of important news and up to date information as best as we can.”