Judge Delays Decision in Linn County Auditor Versus Supervisor Trial

A trial that’s received statewide coverage, caused years of tension between county officials and could potentially limit the role of Iowa's county auditors has ended.

However, no judgement has been reached. 

"I'm not going to do this like TV and give a judgement now," said Iowa’s Sixth District Judge Paul Miller.

The trial between the Linn County Supervisors and Linn County Auditor Joel Miller ended on Tuesday morning after only two days. Grady ordered the two sides to submit opinion proposals within 30 days.

The case, in which the sides are suing each other, stems from Miller hiring a deputy auditor without the consent of the supervisors, and the supervisors refusing to pay the salary. Another key aspect is whether the Linn County Auditor has the authority to investigate and audit county finances.

Grady said he’ll issue his judgement after the 30 day period.

Outside Auditor

The two-day trial has seen four testimonies between the chill courtroom walls. Three were on Tuesday in a full day's worth of questioning. There was also a previously undisclosed testimony earlier this morning by Clayton County Auditor Dennis Freitag.

Freitag gave a testimony claiming to regularly have investigated questionable expenses.

"It is the norm as far as I know in all the counties in the state," he said.

But in Tuesday’s trial, the supervisors’ attorney, Linn County Assistant Attorney Bob Hruska, questioned Miller. Hruska confirmed with Miller that the section of the Iowa Code that establishes the county auditor’s power does not spell out auditing as a function or responsibility of the office.

Auditor's role gets more complicated

Freitag works in Clayton County, a county of 18,000 in northeast Iowa. Due to the county’s comparably small $15 million budget, the auditor’s office by necessity has to take on tasks like internal auditing. Staff hold the title of finance director and budget director.

Linn County’s finance director and budget director report directly to the board of supervisors. In testimony today, Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers said he is opposed to the county auditor appointing a deputy to perform internal audits and investigations because that employee would be appointed by the auditor and so would have a conflict of interest when investigating issues in the auditor’s office.

"The hallmark of internal auditing to me is establishing objectivity or independency," he said.

Rogers said he liked the idea of an internal auditor, but said if Linn County were to hire one, he’d like that employee to not be politically appointed and to report to the board of supervisors.

So, where does that leave us?

The decision will ultimately come down to two points: whether the Linn County Auditor can perform internal audits of county finance and what went wrong in the hiring and firing of a former Linn County deputy auditor, which you can read more about .

The question of whether the auditor has truly been granted these powers by Iowa Code has even eluded Miller. When questioned Tuesday by Hruska how he knows law gives him the right to audit, he said he thought the power was implied, but declined to speak on behalf of the law in the Linn County Courthouse.

"I don’t know. That’s what we’re here to find out," he said.