Residents circulating petition to recall Pondera County sheriff

Seaborn Larson
Great Falls Tribune
Pondera County Sheriff Carl Suta.

The Pondera County Elections Administrator on Monday approved a petition to recall the sheriff for circulation to the public. Simultaneously, a statewide law enforcement certification council is currently weighing allegations filed by local residents against the sheriff.

The petition, submitted by Pondera County resident Stacy Welker, accuses sheriff Carl Suta of incompetence on the job. 

The sheriff responded in a strongly worded text Wednesday night, saying all of the allegations "are retaliatory in nature by a small number of citizens" that can be traced back to a single source.

He also added that all of the accusations have "no corroboration or evidence to back up the statements."

He said when he came back from a fishing outing for a couple hours, he had more than 200 "messages of support on my phone. I live in the best community around. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

As of Monday, petitioners have 90 days to collect 530 signatures, or 15 percent of the registered voting population, to put the recall to a countywide ballot vote, said Elections Administrator Kody Farkell.

"The claim of incompetence is one that is allowed by Montana Code as one of the reasons," Farkell said. "That is one of the bases that the group, or individual person even, can use for starting a recall petition."

Among 12 listed allegations, the petition claims Suta has "left the county unprotected by having only one officer on duty for the entire county countless times", "spoken openly about cases with multiple people in his presence", lacks "professionalism in his dress, speak (sic) and actions" and "written personal messages to citizens to explain his side of the story." The document also alleges "He's not someone who takes responsibility for his actions, as a Law Enforcement Officer, Man, Husband and Father."

Welker's petition also accuses Suta of allowing leniency for the local youth and abusing his power by protecting his children "when they've committed offenses." 

The petition does not provide specific dates or examples of the alleged offenses. Farkell said Wednesday that county attorney Mary Ann Ries approved the petition's legality before Farkell certified the petition for circulation. 

"It's not the clerk and recorder's responsibility to decide whether or not those examples are true," Farkell said. "Just is there a correct claim — is it worded correctly, is it formatted correctly."

Welker's phone appeared to be disconnected when attempted by the Tribune. 

The petition comes about 12 days after the state Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council delayed its decision on whether or not to open an investigation into allegations filed against Suta in May. Katrina Bolger, a paralegal investigator with the POST council, said last month that the allegations filed in May would become public if the council decided to investigate Suta's alleged violations of the Montana ethics code for law enforcement.

The POST council on July 5 was scheduled to make the decision on the investigation, but Bolger said several residents submitted further allegations against Suta the same day. The council will now pour through the allegations and decide whether or not to investigate at their Aug. 2 meeting.

"We need a chance to weed through everything we received and the committee needs a chance to read it all before we know what we want to do," Bolger said. 

If the council found the allegations against Suta to be true, he could be stripped of his certification and removed from law enforcement. He could also be allowed to continue working under probationary conditions. Suta would also have a chance to have the certification revocation overturned, if he were found guilty of the allegations. 

The meeting at which the council makes its decision is public. Citizens can listen in and participate in the meeting by dialing 866-576-7975 and using the access code 612394. 

The petition must contain the requisite number of signatures from registered voters within Pondera County by Oct. 15.