– Sheriff terminates deputy, Elizabeth Kapp

Jamestown (CSi) Stutsman County Sheriff, Chad Kaiser has terminated a Stutsman County deputy who filed a complaint about improper use of vehicles in the sheriff’s office.

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. (related story: Kapp receives Zonta Leadership Award). Kapp (r) picture with US Senator Heitkamp (L). A support page has been set up on Facebook.

Mark Friese, Kapp’s attorney, said 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 February 15th, Stutsman County state’s attorney, Fritz Fremgen,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.”

Kaiser says an internal investigation into the same incident by the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office is complete, but the results were not released pending the completion of a parallel investigation by the Jamestown Police Department.