An unauthorized campaign filing involving Henry County Attorney candidate Abbie Liechty prompted questions during the October 1 Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting about communications among county officials and employees.
New London attorney Steve Ort questioned whether a September 3 filing, remarks made by Supervisor Steve Detrick that morning and an email from County Attorney Becky Wilson were coordinated. The Sheriff’s Office case file identifies the employee who submitted the form and documents her explanation but does not establish the coordination Ort questioned. An outside prosecutor reviewed the investigation due to the conflict of interest in the County Attorney’s Office and upcoming election. The Lee County Attorney recommended no criminal charges. [1, 2]
What was filed
The document was a DR-1 Statement of Organization. The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board describes a DR-1 as a form used to register a campaign committee. [3]
The disputed form was submitted September 3 at approximately 8:03 a.m., according to Chief Deputy Jesse Bell’s report. It listed Liechty as the candidate and Henry County Treasurer Kellie Sloan as campaign treasurer. It gave 100 E. Washington Street, the courthouse address, for both women. Its purpose section complained that Liechty’s campaign website listed the courthouse as campaign headquarters even though she no longer worked in the County Attorney’s Office. [1, pp. 6, 20]
Liechty told Deputy Logan Bass that neither she nor Sloan had signed the document. Sloan separately told Bass she had not signed it and did not know what the form was for. Bass also found that the telephone number entered for Sloan belonged to the Auditor’s Office. [1, pp. 15–16]
Emails preserved in the case file show Ethics Board employee Tim Annee contacted Liechty that morning because a committee was already registered for her campaign. In a 10:41 a.m. reply, Liechty said she had tried to change her address and had experienced problems updating the website. [1, p. 8]
What the investigation found
The Sheriff’s Office identified Heidi Shilling, an employee of the Henry County Auditor’s Office, as the person who submitted the form. The county website lists Shilling’s responsibilities as HR, payroll and election coordinator. [1, pp. 11–14; 4]
According to Bell’s account of a September 4 interview, Shilling said Kelly Patterson, her mother, had brought the website issue to her attention and they decided to submit a complaint. Patterson is listed on the county website as the County Attorney’s Office Manager. Shilling also told Bell she had received one complaint by email and two telephone calls about the address. [1, pp. 11–12; 5]
In an initial phone call obtained by KILJ from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, Shilling asked Bell what information was included on the DR-1, including whose names appeared on the filing. During that initial conversation, she did not identify herself as the person who submitted it. [6]
According to the Sheriff’s Office documents, Shilling said she submitted the form from her phone, believed she was filing a complaint and did not realize she had submitted a DR-1. She acknowledged entering Liechty’s and Sloan’s names. Bell’s report says Shilling did not remember attesting to their names and said she had not read the affirmation on the review page. [1, p. 12]
Bell requested an outside prosecuting office review the case. His report says Wilson agreed because the investigation involved her opponent. Lee County Attorney Ross Braden accepted the referral. [1, p. 11]
In a September 21 email, Braden said he reviewed two statutes requiring specific intent. He concluded the investigation indicated the submitter lacked the required intent, believed she was completing a complaint form and did not realize she was submitting the wrong form or attesting to it. He said criminal charges were not appropriate. Bell closed the case September 22. [1, pp. 13, 17–18]
Questions raised October 1
During public comment, Ort asked how Steve Detrick had learned about the campaign-address issue before raising it at the September 3 supervisors meeting. [2]
During the initial phone call between Bell and Shilling obtained by KILJ, Shilling told Bell that Steve Detrick was among those asking for the matter to be investigated. [6]
In his September 3 remarks during the Henry County Supervisors meeting, Detrick referred to an unnamed political candidate listing the courthouse as campaign headquarters and said the issue needed to be “resolved yesterday.” KILJ’s timing information places those remarks at approximately 10:47 a.m. [7]
Ort questioned whether those remarks were connected to the DR-1 submitted earlier that morning. Detrick did not answer that question during the October 1 public-comment exchange supplied to KILJ and has not been available for comment. His September 3 remarks addressed the campaign website’s courthouse address; they do not, by themselves, establish that he knew about the DR-1. [2, 7]
Auditor Robin Detrick said during October 1 public comment that she had not known her employee had filed a complaint and learned of the matter “last Wednesday.”
“I had no idea that the employee in my office had even filed a complaint,” she said. “I am still in the process of taking care of that issue myself.” [2]
Earlier in the meeting, before public comment, a discussion of county human resources services identified Shilling as the courthouse’s on-site HR person. The discussion also addressed outside services from Carosh and Paul Greufe.
Wilson’s email and response
The case file includes a separate email Wilson sent Annee at 12:09 p.m. September 3, after the DR-1 submission. Its subject line was “Rules violation.” Wilson wrote that she had been informed and had verified that a county attorney candidate’s website listed the County Attorney’s Office as campaign headquarters despite the candidate no longer working there. She attached a screenshot and wrote, “I do not want her to know I reported this.” [1, p. 9]
Ort questioned that communication. In a statement supplied to KILJ, Wilson said she had not filed an official complaint or directed anyone else to do so. She said she contacted Annee expecting him to tell Liechty to correct the address. [2, 8]
“That’s all that I did. I filed no official complaint,” Wilson said. She also denied using the phrase “nefarious activity,” which had been used to characterize her communication during public comment. That phrase does not appear in the email reproduced in the case file. [1, p. 9; 8]
Following the meeting, Ort told KILJ he wanted county officials to take his presentation seriously and answer the questions he and Mike Vance raised. [9]
Timeline
| Date and time | Documented event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| September 3, approximately 8:03 a.m. | The disputed DR-1 is submitted. | Bell report, case-file p. 6 |
| September 3, 8:33 a.m. | Annee emails Liechty about another DR-1 filed for a committee bearing her name. | Email reproduced on p. 8 |
| September 3, 10:41 a.m. | Liechty tells Annee she has tried to change her address and has had problems updating the website. | Email reproduced on p. 8 |
| September 3, approximately 10:47 a.m. | Steve Detrick raises the courthouse campaign-address issue at the supervisors meeting. | September 3 remarks and KILJ timing information [7] |
| September 3, 12:09 p.m. | Wilson emails Annee about the campaign website address and attaches a screenshot. | Email reproduced on p. 9 |
| September 3, approximately 12:26 p.m. | Liechty reports the unauthorized filing to the Sheriff’s Office. | Bass report, p. 15; call-for-service record |
| September 4 | Shilling acknowledges submitting the DR-1 and tells Bell she intended to file a complaint. | Bell report, pp. 11–12 |
| September 8 | Bell submits the case file to Braden for review. | Bell report, p. 13 |
| September 21 | Braden recommends no criminal charges because the investigation indicates the required intent was absent. | Review email, pp. 17–18 |
| September 22, approximately 1:45 p.m. and 2:05 p.m. | Bell informs Liechty, then Shilling, of the result. His report records the case as closed that day. | Bell reports, pp. 13–14 |
| October 1 | Ort and Vance raise questions during public comment. Robin Detrick says she had not known her employee filed the complaint and is addressing the matter. | October 1 meeting transcript [2] |
The records establish who submitted the DR-1, the explanation given to investigators and the outside prosecutor’s decision against charges. The supplied material leaves unanswered who informed Steve Detrick about the website address before his September 3 remarks and whether that communication was connected to the filing.
KILJ has requested additional public records and comment and will update this story as more information becomes available.
Sources
- Henry County Sheriff’s Office case 26-014188, 26014188 Final Casefile 20260923.pdf, 46-page copy provided to KILJ.
- October 1, 2026 Board of Supervisors public-comment and Steve Ort’s written remarks supplied to KILJ.
- Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board: Starting a Campaign.
- Henry County Auditor’s Office staff directory.
- Henry County Attorney’s Office staff directory.
- Initial phone call between Henry County Chief Deputy Jesse Bell and Heidi Shilling, obtained by KILJ from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.
- September 3 remarks transcribed and timed by KILJ; approximately 10:47 a.m.
- Becky Wilson’s post-meeting statement supplied to KILJ.
- Steve Ort’s post-meeting statement.