Holly Kluth, candidate for Douglas County sheriff and the previous undersheriff, is denying allegations that she ordered one other worker to change her personnel file.
CASTLE ROCK, Colorado — A Republican candidate for Douglas County sheriff and the county’s former undersheriff is denying allegations that she ordered one other worker to change her personnel file years in the past, after paperwork detailing an inside affairs investigation had been obtained by 9NEWS.
It’s the second inside affairs investigation in as a few years for Holly Kluth, who was demoted and fired from the division earlier this yr following a separate inside affairs investigation. This most up-to-date investigation ended with investigators recommending official misconduct costs to the 18th Judicial District Lawyer’s Workplace. However the DA opted to not prosecute the case.
This most up-to-date investigation was launched when Kluth’s lawyer requested her personnel file from the sheriff’s division whereas getting ready a federal lawsuit towards Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock contesting Kluth’s firing.
Based on the investigation, when sheriff’s workplace employees started to organize the file, they discovered a discrepancy, a file had been deleted from the division’s human relations pc system.
The Douglas County Sheriff requested an out of doors authority, the Jefferson County Sheriff, to research this case towards Kluth.
Based on a report from Jefferson County sheriff investigators, an inside audit found Kluth had accessed her personnel file six days earlier than a subordinate deleted the file. Investigators interviewed the sheriff’s workplace worker who deleted the file who claimed he had been ordered to delete the file by Kluth. By way of her lawyer, Kluth denied to be interviewed by Jefferson County investigators, the report stated.
The file in query concerned a 1988 Park County sheriff police report detailing a felony menacing name. A Park County deputy interviewed Kluth’s now ex-husband who claimed he and Kluth had been arguing. Based on the report, her ex-husband advised the deputy Kluth had been ingesting and pointed a pistol at him, threatening each him and herself, earlier than discharging a spherical into the ground.
Jefferson County investigators really useful costs of first- and second-degree official misconduct towards Kluth, based on the report. However the 18th Judicial District Lawyer’s Workplace opted to not prosecute.
“Our dedication to not file costs was made for 2 causes,” Assistant District Lawyer Tom Byrnes wrote in a letter dated October 25. “First, the statute of limitations has run on any potential costs. Second, even when the statute of limitations had not expired, the proof is inadequate for an inexpensive probability of success at trial past an inexpensive doubt.”
Within the letter, the prosecutor stated the statute of limitations is eighteen months. The alleged conduct occurred in April 2019 and wasn’t investigated till the summer season of 2021. The prosecutor additionally stated since excessive rating officers knew concerning the alleged conduct and didn’t report it, the probability of success at trial would undergo.
When contacted by 9NEWS Monday, Kluth stated she was unaware of the 1988 case and didn’t know concerning the inside affairs investigation. She denied the allegation that she ordered one other worker to change her personnel file. Her lawyer advised 9NEWS Kluth has no felony document.
“The baseless allegations put ahead by Tony Spurlock are merely the most recent instance of political retaliation towards Ms. Kluth for staying true to her conservative rules,” Kluth’s lawyer Siddhartha Rathod stated in an announcement to 9NEWS. “Ms. Kluth is dedicated to combating for her First Modification rights to free speech and political affiliation, in addition to these of all Douglas County residents, and to making sure that selections on the Sheriff’s Workplace are made based mostly on public security, not politics.”
Rathod’s agency is suing Spurlock on behalf of Kluth. In a case filed final week, Kluth alleges she was demoted and fired from her place as undersheriff and chief deputy on the sheriff’s workplace as a result of she disagreed with the sheriff on political candidates. The lawsuit claims this was a violation of Kluth’s proper to free speech.
An inside affairs investigation in 2020 revealed Kluth violated division coverage by partaking in politics on the job. Based on that investigation, after Spurlock, a Republican, publicly supported a Democrat within the race for Douglas County Commissioner, Kluth was contacted by a member of the Douglas County Republican Social gathering making an attempt to rally assist of different legislation enforcement leaders in Douglas County behind the Republican candidate. Kluth made an announcement on her private Fb web page supporting conservative candidates.
That investigation led to Kluth’s demotion from undersheriff. Spurlock fired her months later. Her lawsuit alleges Spurlock stated Kluth wasn’t “residing as much as his mission, imaginative and prescient or values,” based on the lawsuit.
The swimsuit claims Spurlock’s actions had been retaliation.
Spurlock wouldn’t remark to 9NEWS on the pending litigation and stated the paperwork concerned in every allegation “inform the entire story.”
Spurlock is about to retire when his time period ends in early 2023. Kluth is amongst a rising subject of candidates within the job, together with present Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas.
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