Attorney General Bird issues report on Winneshiek County Sheriff investigation; threatens loss of state funding for county
(ABC 6 News) — On Wednesday, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released her report on Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx’s Facebook post from February 4.
The post claimed that Marx would be a sanctuary sheriff and refuse to enforce immigration laws.
Related: Local sheriff addresses how his office will work with federal agencies such as ICE
Following the post by Marx, Governor Kim Reynolds sent the Attorney General’s office an official complaint for investigation.
AG Bird’s report concluded that the post violated Iowa Code Chapter 27A, which prohibits state law enforcement from discouraging cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Sheriff Marx responded on February 14, explaining that his office has complied with all 21 of the ICE detainers it has received.
“Iowa law makes clear that there are no sanctuary counties,” said Attorney General Bird via a press release. “Any reports of sanctuary counties or sheriffs will be investigated. Our investigation into Winneshiek County found that the sheriff is violating the law, and we are giving the sheriff a chance to fix the problem. Failure to do so means that his county may lose all state funding.”
The press release from AG Bird’s office states that Sheriff Marx’s Facebook post “discourages cooperation with federal immigration authorities by making false claims and threatening to interfere with enforcing ICE detainers.”
As such, AG Bird’s office says failure to fix the violation of Iowa Code Chapter 27A will result in a loss of state funding for Winneshiek County.
AG Bird’s office says it will close the investigation once the sheriff has issued a clarifying post.