DIRTY POLITICS: Candidate Claims Foul Play

A candidate for Polk County Sheriff says someone in the department isn’t just playing dirty politics, they’re breaking the law.

Dan Charlston, a deputy who is running against his own boss, says someone in the department leaked information about closed a civil service hearing he was involved in to the Des Moines Register.

He says discussing that information is illegal…and he can’t defend himself against claims made in the paper because that would also be illegal. So Charlston is asking the Sheriff’s Department and the County Attorney to investigate. 

“The stuff that came out of a closed hearing, the stuff that came out obviously about a personnel file, whether it’s true or false, is criminal.” Charleston says, “It’s unacceptable. And if an investigation doesn’t get done we’ll deal with it after the campaign but it will be dealt with.”

The Sheriff and the County Attorney both refused to comment.