The Campbell County Attorney's Office released a second memorandum in response to additional concerns raised by Dave Lauck, candidate for Campbell County Sheriff, after the release of the first memorandum.

The following is the memorandum issued yesterday by the Campbell County Attorney's Office in its entirety:

July 21, 2010

TO: Media
FROM: Jeani L. Stone, Campbell County & Prosecuting Attorney  

On July 20, 2010, the County Attorney’s Office issued a memorandum outlining the various concerns contained in Mr. Lauck’s binder of information provided to the County Attorney’s Office, and other agencies for review.  Included in that memorandum were findings by the County Attorney’s Office as to those various issues. 

As mentioned in that memorandum, the County Attorney’s Office was limited in its review of the materials as much of the information and incidents appeared to be intertwined throughout the materials making it difficult to sort out, and the quality of the recordings provided was compromised in many parts. In addition, many of the incidents were not identified by defendant’s name, date or report number.  Due to the number of issues, the fact that many were not specifically identified, and the difficulty in trying to weed out the issues given the quality of the recordings and organization of the materials submitted, it was challenging to say the least to identify and try to address all of Mr. Lauck’s concerns.  Given that difficulty, the County Attorney’s Office in its memorandum asked that in the event someone believed that an issue of importance had been missed, that those be brought to the County Attorney’s Office attention so that they may be addressed.  Subsequently, Mr. Lauck identified three areas that he wanted addressed that were not addressed in the memorandum issued earlier in the day.  Those issues which I have summarized below, are as follows:

1.  Did Sheriff Pownall or four senior officers of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department commit perjury in their testimony during depositions in the civil lawsuit proceedings regarding the issue of “racism” at the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department?  Does their conduct rise to the level of perjury? 

The County Attorney’s Office believed that the initial binder of information provided by Mr. Lauck raised the issue of whether or not racism exists within the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department and whether that perceived racism affected the performance or duties of the deputies or Sheriff.  In Mr. Lauck’s response of July 20, 2010 to the County Attorney’s memorandum, Mr. Lauck has asked the County Attorney’s Office to address specifically the issue as to whether or not the Sheriff or four senior officers committed perjury in their depositions regarding the issue of “racism” at the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department.  Given this clarification as to the specific issue that Mr. Lauck would like to have addressed, the County Attorney’s Office will look into that specific inquiry. 

2.  Did Sheriff Pownall violate the nepotism statute as a result of his son working at the Sheriff’s Department jail while he has served as Sheriff?  

Mr. Lauck did not raise this issue in the binder of information provided to the County Attorney’s Office.  This is a new inquiry raised by Mr. Lauck.  Given this new inquiry and information, the County Attorney’s Office will look further into this issue. 

3.  Did Sheriff Pownall engage in any criminal activity regarding his possible possession of an unregistered machine gun?  Did the Sheriff’s Department return a gun to a “drug involved individual,” and if so, did this violate any policy or criminal statute?  In addition, did the Sheriff’s Department return a gun to an individual with mental health issues, and if so, did this violate any policy or criminal statute?

In the binder of information and recordings provided to the County Attorney’s Office, Mr. Lauck did raise the issue of Sheriff’s Pownall’s possible possession of an unregistered machine gun.  Given the nature of these claims, the County Attorney’s Office does not have jurisdiction over this type of inquiry, as a violation would fall under federal law.  It is the County Attorney’s Office’s belief that this issue has been brought to the attention of the federal agency involved in investigating these issues.  The County Attorney’s Office is working on a confirmation that this in fact is the case. 

The County Attorney’s Office was aware of Mr. Lauck’s concern regarding the issue of return of guns to individuals, however, no details were provided in the materials from Mr. Lauck as whom the individuals were or when these may have occurred, making it difficult to inquire further on this issue.  An additional inquiry has been made to Mr. Lauck to provide additional information based on these inquiries.

The County Attorney’s Office has requested that Mr. Lauck identify all potential remaining issues, along with additional information, to the County Attorney’s Office by 8:00 a.m. on July 22, 2010, so that any remaining issues may be addressed promptly so as to resolve these issues.  In addition, given the potential impact these issues may have on the election, and to avoid any appearance that this matter was not evaluated objectively, the County Attorney’s Office will be having an independent review of these matters to ensure fairness and accuracy for all involved.

 
cc: Governor Dave Freudenthal
 DCI Director Forest Bright
 Attorney General Bruce Salzburg
 Campbell County Commissioners
 Sheriff William Pownall
 Mr. Dave Lauck
 Gillette News-Record
 Basin Radio