Complaint dismissed in Lake Co. sheriff's race

The most recent complaint filed in the Lake County sheriff’s race has been dismissed because of a jurisdictional issue.

Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth sent a letter of dismissal Monday to the three Polson men who issued the complaint.

The complaint alleged that the Jay Doyle campaign put flyers in mailboxes of supporters of Doyle’s general election opponents, Steve Kendley and Dan Yonkin. Doyle denied knowing about it.

“If that was done, it was not done with my knowledge or permission,” Doyle said at the time.

The men also alleged a violation of state law, including privacy in communications, that Doyle violated his oath of office as undersheriff, the peace officers code of ethics, improperly obtained information through a criminal investigation, attempted to interfere with a criminal investigation, disseminated false information, and threatened the recipients of the flyers.

Unsworth said his office has no jurisdiction over federal statutes or portions of state law that allegedly were violated. Unsworth said his office has jurisdiction only over campaign finance and practices.

Unsworth also said that the complaint “does not include evidence that would tend to prove that either Doyle or one of his supporters is responsible for the flyer. Your complaint appears to be largely based on speculation.”

Troy Ricciardi was one of the complainants.

“If he’s not going to handle the issues, then I’m going to take it to the next level,” Ricciardi said Tuesday.

Another complainant, John Swenson, said he’s not sure what he’s going to do. The third man, Bob Williams, could not be reached for comment.

Doyle was elected sheriff by a 3-percent margin over Kendley.

Doyle told the Lake County Leader last week that he’s going to try to “get the team mentality back” at the Sheriff’s Office. “In order to do that, I need to keep my doors open for communication with every department.”

Doyle said he has approached Kendley and Yonkin, who both work at the Sheriff’s Office.

“They’ve got some great ideas I think we can implement,” he said.

Doyle takes office in January, replacing Sheriff Lucky Larson.

Two other complaints associated with the Lake County sheriff’s race remain open.