The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN, N.D. — A Stutsman County deputy who filed a complaint about improper use of vehicles in the sheriff’s office was fired last week, the sheriff confirmed Tuesday.
Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser said he terminated Elizabeth Kapp from her position as a sheriff’s office deputy last week. Kapp had been employed there since 2003 and was promoted to sergeant in 2012.
Mark Friese, Kapp’s attorney, responded on her behalf regarding the termination.
“Liz has been honored to serve Stutsman County, and is devastated by her employer’s decision,” Friese said in an email to The Sun. “She hopes review will allow her to return to public service.”
Friese elaborated by saying his client intended to proceed with a grievance or court case to reverse the termination.
Kaiser said Kapp had been subject to a performance improvement plan since November after receiving an unsatisfactory performance review and a letter of reprimand.
Kapp filed a written complaint in January that the staff of the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office was improperly using office vehicles for personal use after verbally reporting it to Kaiser in October.
On Feb. 15, Fritz Fremgen, Stutsman County state’s attorney, declined to pursue the complaint, saying “the extent of the use is not something I would pursue criminally when there is an employer positioned to take negative personnel action.”
Kapp and Jamestown Police Department Detective Thomas Nagel were listed as potential suspects in a North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation report of who may have furnished incorrect information to the news media on the improper use of a Jet Ski by members of the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office.
The BCI investigation attempted to ascertain who anonymously sent a packet to the KVLY Valley News Live Whistleblower Hotline involving alleged improper use of a Jet Ski by a sheriff’s deputy and Kaiser’s son. The information furnished to KVLY inaccurately alleged Stutsman County owned the Jet Ski.
Cherie Clark, assistant Cass County state’s attorney, reviewed the BCI criminal report at Fremgen’s request. Clark said in her report she was asked by Fremgen to determine whether criminal charges were appropriate.
“After reviewing the (BCI) report, I have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support prosecution of either Jamestown Police Detective Tom Nagel or Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Elizabeth Kapp,” Clark wrote in her report.
An internal investigation into the same incident by the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office is complete, Kaiser said, but the results were not released pending the completion of a parallel investigation by the Jamestown Police Department.
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