Decatur sheriff resigns amid harassment allegations

A longtime Iowa sheriff resigned Friday amid allegations that he talked about his female employees' breasts, asked about coworkers' sex lives and fostered a "hostile" work environment.

Former Decatur County Sheriff Bert Muir denied each claim and said he looks forward to a retirement with more time to spend riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He said a move by the county's board of supervisors to have him removed from office was politically motivated, but fighting it in court would only tarnish his reputation and the sheriff's office.

"Whether it's true or not, it's going to hurt the department, so it's probably better for me to resign," he said during a phone interview after being reached at home by The Des Moines Register. "You sort of fall in love with your job and you fall in love with the department and everything, and you don't want to hurt it."

Des Moines attorney Thomas H. Miller on Friday morning filed a four-page petition in Decatur County District Court on behalf of the supervisors, asking a district court judge to remove Muir, 66, from office for what was described as a pattern of sexual harassment. Iowa law allows a judge to suspend an elected official from office for misconduct.

Individual affidavits containing full details of the complaints against Muir were sealed by a judge, but the petition accuses him of assaulting multiple employees through hair-pulling, unwanted hugging, pinching, squeezing and fondling. The sheriff once "pulled a female employee's face toward his crotch," according to the petition.

The petition similarly accuses Muir of sexually harassing courthouse workers, witnesses and victims of crime, though it does not provide additional details. Additionally, Muir married a coworker after being elected sheriff and illegally promoted her and increased her salary in violation of Iowa law, the petition said.

Miller, formerly a deputy Iowa attorney general, said he was hired Monday by the board of supervisors to handle the proceedings. Miller and officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety traveled to the sheriff's office in Leon Friday morning to serve Muir with a judge's order suspending him from office. The sheriff wrote a two-sentence resignation letter after a conversation about the allegations, Miller said.

"It's apparent to me that it's a matter that's been brewing for some time," Miller said. "It's my strong impression that the problem was worsening and the matter was coming to a head in recent months or weeks."

The judge's order scheduled a March 21 hearing for both Muir and his accusers to present their cases, but the former sheriff's resignation brought a likely end to the case, Miller said. Muir is not facing any civil lawsuits or criminal charges, according to Miller and a review of Iowa online court records.

The order bars the former sheriff from having any contact with anybody who filed an affidavit in the case and all Decatur County employees except for his wife. Miller requested the provision as part of the petition, writing that Muir's employees feared "retaliation and abuse."

During a phone interview, Muir denied each allegation against him in the petition. Asked about whether he'd commented on female subordinates' breasts, the former sheriff responded, "I'm happily married right now, and I've not made that comment." He chuckled and said, "No," when asked whether he'd ever forced an employee's face toward his genitals.

"I'll dispute anything that gets said," he said. "I dispute the whole thing. Even if I went through and proved myself clean of everything, the damage is done."

Muir said he believes the petition was prompted by false complaints from approximately four to six people with a political agenda against him. However, he declined to offer names or details of any possible dispute. "I don't think I'll gain anything by saying that," he said.

The former sheriff said his wife, Tammy Muir, was working as a dispatcher when he was elected sheriff but was promoted to become a civil deputy — handling much of the paperwork coming through the office — after a person in the position quit. Muir said he also sought legal advice from Decatur County Attorney Lisa Jeanes about whether the marriage would cause any legal conflicts and was not made aware of any potential problems.

Jeanes could not be immediately reached Friday to offer more details. Muir said his wife remains uncertain about whether she will return to work at the office.

Though he planned to run for reelection, Muir said he had been struggling with whether or not he was ready to retire. He was first elected sheriff in 1998 after briefly serving as Leon's police chief.

Muir's salary was $52,405 in the fiscal year that started in 2014, according to county documents available online. He said that his resignation should not affect his pension.

Muir was not aware of the effort to have him booted from office until Miller served him with paperwork on Friday morning, but said "I've been sheriff for about 18 years, so you feel like you have a target on your back all the time anyway."

"I've got about 34 years in (law enforcement) or so," he said. "I love my work, I've always loved my work or I wouldn't have been in it so long, but there's a time to retire."

An agenda for the Decatur County Board of Supervisors posted online shows the board met for a special session at 2:15 p.m. Friday to accept the sheriff's resignation and to appoint Muir's chief deputy, Ben Boswell, as the new sheriff. County officials could not immediately be reached by phone.

Muir said he had no hard feelings about his former employee taking over his job, and the former sheriff hopes Boswell runs for the position in November's election.

"It would be stupid as many years as we've worked together and been friends for me to have ill will toward him," he said. "I'm hoping he runs. I think he's going to run."

Register reporter Charly Haley contributed to this story.