Sen. Chris Cournoyer, right, took the oath of office to serve as Iowa lieutenant governor Dec. 16, 2024 at the Iowa Capitol, led by Iowa Chief Justice Susan Christensen, left. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The Scott County sheriff says although an Iowa Senate committee has rejected his ethics complaint against the state’s new lieutenant governor, he intends to pursue the matter.
On Dec. 16, Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane filed a sworn ethics complaint against Chris Cournoyer, a former Iowa state senator from LeClaire, with the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee. The complaint accuses Cournoyer of harassment of a citizen, disclosure of confidential information, improper use of confidential information to further her own interests or those of another person, and improperly or illegally obtaining confidential information.
Senate Ethics Committee Chair Tom Shipley told the Quad-City Times recently that the committee had rejected Lane’s complaint because it was drafted the same day Cournoyer assumed the post of lieutenant governor, leaving nothing for the committee to investigate.
“I’m not going to drop this, I am not going to let this go,” Lane said Tuesday.
Aside from the specific issues he has with Cournoyer’s conduct, Lane said, he’s concerned that a sheriff’s ability to discipline employees could be put at risk if Statehouse politicians align themselves with those workers and then pursue legislation of a retaliatory nature.
Lane’s ethics complaint focuses on Cournoyer’s alleged role in handling information tied to the dismissal of a Scott County sergeant, Josh Wall, who has admitted waging an unauthorized investigation into Jennifer McAndrew, Lane’s wife. McAndrew supervises probationers for the Iowa Department of Corrections.
Wall challenged his dismissal from the sheriff’s office, which led to a hearing earlier this year before the Scott County Civil Service Commission. According to Lane, Wall testified that he believed McAndrew was violating the rights of a sex offender by monitoring the man’s activities after his probation was completed. Although the investigation lasted several weeks and was wrapped up in July 2024, Wall allegedly testified that he didn’t produce a report of his findings until March 2024.
Lane says Wall admitted that the 2023 investigation into McAndrew was unknown to others within the department and that he kept information related to it on a flash drive stored at his home.
Cournoyer accused of sharing information
According to Lane’s sworn complaint, Wall also testified that after completing his report, he gave a copy of it, along with the contents of his flash drive, to Cournoyer, who is from Scott County, to forward to the office of Attorney General Brenna Bird, but didn’t give Cournoyer permission to share the information with anyone else.
In his complaint, Lane alleges that it was determined at the Civil Service Commission hearing that Cournoyer had accessed Wall’s investigative report, made copies of it, and then disseminated the information to others before turning it over to Bird’s office.
Wall’s firing was upheld by the Scott County Civil Service Commission, which concluded Wall did not follow proper procedures related to investigating, reporting or documenting any concerns he may have had. The commission noted that Wall not only failed to inform the sheriff of his activities, but also the county attorney, attorney general and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
During the 2024 legislative session, Cournoyer introduced Senate File 2014, later renamed Senate File 2277, which provided that when a county sheriff intends to conduct a disciplinary or criminal investigation of an employee who is also an immediate family member, that investigation would have to be handed over to the attorney general or the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The bill failed to advance after being approved by a committee.
According to Lane’s complaint, he was contacted by an Iowa Capital Dispatch reporter during the legislative session and informed that Cournoyer had said the bill was intended to address an issue within the Scott County Sheriff’s Office. Lane stated that he told the reporter he didn’t know what that issue might be and noted that Cournoyer hadn’t discussed the bill with him.
In May 2024, a letter signed by Cournoyer was published in the Quad-City Times. In his complaint, Lane alleges that Cournoyer’s letter served as an endorsement of Chris Laye, his opponent in the Republican primary race for Scott County sheriff. In her letter, Cournoyer stated that the citizens of Scott County “deserve someone who enforces the law (and) who doesn’t think he or his family members are above it.”
Cournoyer, Lane alleges, was “heavily involved” in Laye’s campaign, and Wall served as the campaign’s manager and accountant.
Iowa Law Enforcement Academy subpoena
In his complaint, Lane alleges that an investigation determined his wife had violated no laws, despite Wall’s report calling for federal and state criminal charges to be levied against her. He asks for an investigation to determine whether Senate File 2077 was introduced as part of a conspiracy by Wall and Cournoyer to force the DCI to conduct its own investigation of McAndrew.
While the bill’s language pertains to investigations into employees of sheriffs’ offices rather than DOC workers such as McAndrew, Lane says Cournoyer may have intended to expand the scope of the bill to include investigations into family members of county sheriffs regardless of their employer.
Lane said Tuesday that because the Senate Ethics Committee has rejected his request for an investigation, he is considering filing a formal complaint with the Office of Ombudsman, which has the authority to investigate the actions of certain public officials.
He said he contacted the attorney general’s office but was informed Monday that because that office plays no role in legislative ethics complaints, it’s not clear what other options Lane might have in pursuing the matter.
Lane noted that the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy has subpoenaed information related to the matter in order to make a determination as to whether Wall’s certification as a police officer is an issue that needs to be considered.
Gov. Kim Reynold’s communications director, Jen Green, and her deputy communications director, Mason Mauro, did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Mauro told the Quad-City Times earlier this month that Lane’s complaint has no merit and “doesn’t even make sense.” He said Cournoyer “acted appropriately when provided information by a whistleblower.”
Civil lawsuit claims retaliation
In March, Tara Chase, a former sex offender registry specialist for the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, sued the county for wrongful termination and alleged violations of Iowa’s whistleblower law.
In her lawsuit, Chase claims that in August 2022, she had an appointment with one of McAndrew’s clients who was a sex offender. During the course of their meeting, Chase alleges, she asked the man whether he was still on probation or parole, and the man said he believed he had been discharged from probation in April 2022 but was still being monitored by McAndrew.
Chase alleges she then verified that McAndrew was “continuing to improperly supervise” the man, partly by maintaining a global-positioning ankle bracelet on him.
A year later, the lawsuit alleges, Chase accused Lane of improperly monitoring her emails and was then notified that the office’s internal affairs division was investigating her for forwarding work-related information to a personal email account she could access from home. In August 2023, she alleges, she was fired, which she now attributes to retaliation for complaints against Lane and his wife.
The county has denied any wrongdoing and noted that Josh Wall, the sergeant who was later fired for his secret investigation of McAndrew, was Chase’s direct supervisor during the period in question.
A trial is scheduled for September 2025.