Iowa deputy sues active sheriff, political opponent for alleged retaliation

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa — Guthrie County Deputy Matt Harmann filed a federal lawsuit this week, claiming that Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright, Chief Deputy Jeremy Bennett, and County Attorney Dana Minteer engaged in a coordinated attack on his campaign.

Harmann is the Republican candidate for Guthrie County Sheriff, announcing the decision in a Facebook post in February of 2024. After the announcement the lawsuit alleges that the three defendants tried to undermine his political aspirations by spreading falsehoods about him.

Prior to the announcement, the lawsuit says that Harmann had never received a negative employment review or a work-related complaint, but after the announcement the lawsuit alleges that there had been electronic communication between Arganbright, Bennett and Minteer and how his candidacy posed a threat to their position. There was communication to work together to discredit Harmann.

Minteer issued a Giglio Notice in all criminal cases in which Harmann could be a witness in dating back to December 16, 2023. The notice was sent to Harmann in an email by Minteer on February 2, 2024, saying in part, “this letter is to inform you that while on-duty, Deputy Harmann, a potential witness in this case, is believed to have provided false information to his colleagues during the course of a potential criminal investigation on or about December 16-17, 2023.”

On February 7, 2024, Harmann was notified of an Administrative Investigation by Bennett, allegedly at the discretion of Arganbright; relating to an incident on Dec. 16-17 the year prior. This notice put him on administrative leave. The notice was not dated until Feb. 9, 2024.

On Feb. 26, 2024, Arganbright sent Harmann an e-mail about the investigation and scheduled an interview with Jon Thomas of Workforce Solutions on Feb. 27. The lawsuit alleges that Thomas was falsely told by Arganbright and Bennett that Harmann was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 7, 2024. It further alleges that Bennett’s signature was falsified on a version of the original Administrative Investigation Notice, putting the same date, Jan. 7. Harmann’s legal team stated that he was not placed on administrative leave at that time.

The independent investigation concluded in April 2024, and Thomas found no violations by Harmann. The suit outlines that there was no disciplinary action taken against Harmann by the office.

“They (the three defendants) didn’t like that opinion and conclusion and so they did this end around in a way to tarnish his reputation, tarnish his integrity, and interfere with this upcoming election,” said Bobby Rehkemper, Harmann’s attorney.

The lawsuit continued alleging that after the conclusion, Arganbright directed Bennett to refer Harmann to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy to have him be de-certified as a peace officer in the state. To support this, Harmann, Arganbright and Bennett created another false version of the original Administrative Leave Notice saying that he had been on administrative leave since Jan. 6, 2024. The lawsuit claims that the signature from Bennett on this notice is distinctly different from the first two. There was no final decision from the academy, but the lawsuit alleged that Arganbright was informing members of the public that Harmann had been de-certified.

And lastly, the lawsuit says that Arganbright escalated his political retaliation against Harmann by illegally releasing confidential information about him and another Guthrie County Sheriff’s Deputy to the public.

This information was published in Aug. 30, 2024 in the Perry News by an Arganbright supporter, Kassandra Sheeder, in a Letter to the Editor.

“We want them to stop breaking the law number one, so that’s the first thing we ask for is what’s called an injunctive relief, knock if off, right,” said Rehkemper. “Quit disseminating confidential documents, quit retaliating against somebody for simply running against you, have a fair and full election.”

Harmann is suing under the the First and Fourteenth Amendment of the United State Constitution, alleging political retaliation and discrimination; conspiracy to commit political retaliation and discrimination, and more.

WHO 13 News went to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office and Guthrie County Attorney’s Office and was informed to contact Attorney Jason Palmer, based out of West Des Moines, for comment. Palmer has yet to reply to WHO 13 News’ request to comment on the allegations outlined.

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