New state law could strengthen Henry County Sheriff’s continued requests for outside legal help

MT. PLEASANT — For the third time in less than a year, Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee stood before the county’s Board of Supervisors on Thursday, May 22, renewing his request for county-funded legal counsel. This time, he arrived with a newly signed state law on his side.

“I return again asking the Board to approve outside counsel to represent me in a pending matter,” McNamee addressed the Henry County Supervisors. “Once again, I make a request to the Henry County Board of Supervisors to approve Ellis Law as my outside counsel at county expense due to a conflict of interest and a lack of adequate legal counsel in the county sheriff’s office’s matters.”

His request follows his involvement in a case concerning the decertification of a former deputy by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. During an April 10 deposition in Des Moines, McNamee said the Iowa Attorney General’s Office informed him mid-deposition that they did not represent him and advised him to seek legal counsel. He stopped the deposition.

“I’ve spoken with the county attorney on the matter,” McNamee said, adding that he believes the office has a conflict of interest due to personal ties to the former deputy. He also argued that the office has refused to fully represent his interests in the matter.

McNamee claimed County Attorney Darin Stater stated, “he would not personally represent me or any officer as legal counsel,” and declined to file a motion to quash the partially completed deposition.

Email correspondence between the sheriff and county attorney shows that Stater indicated he would attend the deposition and outlined circumstances under which he would consider filing a motion to quash.

“I will be attending your depositions as Henry County Attorney to ensure that the depositions of County Officers are conducted within the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure,” Stater wrote in a May 9 email to McNamee. “If there are grounds to file a motion to quash the subpoena… I will do so.”

Furthermore, in a separate message on April 28, Stater emphasized a distinction between the role of a county attorney and that of private legal counsel.

“A county attorney advises county officers as to the law and to what is in the best interest of their county,” he wrote. “A private attorney zealously advocates for their client, whether or not they act in adherence to the law or in the best interests of the county.”

In response to McNamee’s public statements, Stater later wrote to the Board of Supervisors expressing concern about the narrative being presented. He said the April 10 deposition ended not because McNamee was instructed to stop, but because he told Assistant Attorney General Kayla Hardisty that he was not comfortable proceeding without “his attorney.”

Stater claims Hardisty did not instruct McNamee to seek outside counsel.

“Hardisty was unsure of what McNamee meant by that statement, so to be safe, she and [Arturo] Perez’s attorney agreed to suspend the depositions,” Stater wrote.

Stater also argued that Henry County is not a party to the Arturo Perez decertification case, calling the sheriff’s request “an unnecessary expenditure of public funds.”

“The Sheriff is being called as a witness by the Attorney General’s Office to testify in the public interest,” he wrote. “Considering that neither the County nor the Sheriff are parties to this action, and there are two public attorneys attending to the Sheriff in this matter, I strongly advise you to deny Sheriff McNamee’s request for outside counsel.”

The sheriff’s prior requests for outside counsel — in November 2024 and January 2025 — were denied by the board, which based its decisions on Stater’s legal advice. McNamee said he paid those legal bills out of his own pocket.

“I had to mortgage my home to pay county expenses,” he told the board Thursday.

Now, however, a recent change in Iowa law may offer a new path forward. On Monday, May 19, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 862 into law. The amendment to Iowa Code 331.755 explicitly grants counties new discretion in legal matters involving elected officials:

“A Board of Supervisors may, with a majority vote of the board, obtain outside counsel to represent the Board of Supervisors or any other county official,” the law reads.

This clause represents a major shift, providing clear legal authority for boards to fund independent legal representation for officials like sheriffs, when needed. The law also took effect immediately.

Supervisor Steve Detrick asked McNamee whether he also intended to seek reimbursement for past legal expenses. The sheriff said not yet — but left that door open.

“At this point, Mr. Detrick, I'm asking for counsel for this process, this ILA Council,” McNamee said. “We all know the law passed on Monday that says I can ask for my back pay, and I'm not asking for that at this time, but I probably will be.”

After seeing McNamee’s request for outside legal counsel on the agenda for the May 22 meeting, and before McNamee even stood before the board, Stater offered his legal opinion on the new provision.

“Public funds can only be used to pay for services rendered by outside counsel moving forward, and only after the retention of said counsel is approved by the BOS,” he wrote, noting that no retroactive language was included in the legislation.

The issue has sparked public interest. Earlier this year, community members filled the boardroom to express support for McNamee and frustration at the board’s denial of his earlier requests. They argued that a sheriff must have access to impartial legal representation — especially when county attorneys face conflicts of interest.

Neighboring Jefferson County dealt with a similar situation earlier this year. There, the board approved reimbursing the legal bills of Sheriff Bart Richmond, a precedent McNamee’s supporters have pointed to.

The Henry County Board has not yet voted on McNamee’s latest request. Supervisors did not respond publicly during the meeting.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com