Pubdate: Mon, 30 Oct 2000
Source: Hawk Eye, The (IA)
Copyright: 2000 The Hawk Eye
Contact:  attn: Letters, P.O. Box 10, Burlington IA 52601-0010
Fax: 319-754-6824
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Website: http://www.thehawkeye.com/
Author: Stephen A. Martin

CHALLENGER ATTACKS SHERIFF'S DRUG CLAIMS

Henry County candidates dispute number of convictions.

MOUNT PLEASANT -- A challenger is accusing Henry County Sheriff Ken Krabill
of "reckless disregard of facts" in statements about his drug enforcement
record.

Meanwhile, the incumbent Republican is refuting the claim of Democratic
candidate Lyle Parriott, and has a claim of his own about his opponent's use
of a sample ballot in a recent advertising campaign.

"They can whistle 'Dixie' all they want," Krabill said.

Parriott has scheduled a news conference for 8 a.m. today at the Henry
County Courthouse. A statement by the challenger dated today says Krabill is
misrepresenting his record to get votes.

"He's really touting an accomplishment that he didn't do," Parriott said
Sunday.

Parriott, a Mount Pleasant police sergeant, said Courthouse records verify
only 18 of the 48 drug convictions for which Krabill claims credit.

At an Oct. 18 candidates forum, Krabill showed supporters and some media
representatives a list bearing 48 names, dates and drug-related charges he
said his department has been involved with between April 22, 1997, and April
6, 2000.

Parriott said Krabill did not allow him to get a copy of the list directly,
but he was able to obtain one from a Mount Pleasant newspaper.

A week of comparing the list with Courthouse records shows three of the
charges said to have resulted in convictions are still pending in court, he
said. Four resulted in traffic convictions, but no drug-related convictions.
Nine were dismissed or deferred, and four were not in courthouse records at
all.

In one case, a man was arrested in May 1999 for possessing the ingredients
for methamphetamine. But County Attorney Mike Riepe declined to file trial
information, Parriott said, after discovering the alleged meth ingredients
were really just bottles of ether used to help start a sluggish automobile
engine.

"When you go out and tout 50-something drug convictions, that's a wonderful
job," Parriott said. "But then to turn around and not be able to
substantiate it -- how can we have someone like that in public office? I
think people have a right to know the truth."

Krabill said Parriott's charges are ill-informed hogwash.

"I stand by my assessment of the drug arrests," he said.

The sheriff has claimed 24 drug convictions in some advertisements, 45 drug
arrests in others, and more than 50 convictions in a letter sent to
supporters.

"What is important to the voters of Henry County is that our top priority is
the control of illegal drug trafficking within the county," he said.

Not all of the arrests on the list were actually made by Henry County
sheriff's deputies, he said, but all count because of inter-agency
involvement.

"We work closely with several groups, such as the Southeast Iowa
Inter-Agency Drug Task Force, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations,
state troopers and all local police departments," he said. "In most
drug-enforcement operations, one of my deputies is the task force commander
and the case manager."

He said Parriott's claims have been engineered by campaign manager Jim
Cisco, who he called a "political character assassin."

Krabill said the Parriott campaign is using dirty tricks, including one in
which voters are being led to believe they can vote a straight-party
Republican ballot and still vote for the Democratic sheriff nominee.

"I think they're illegal on this," he said.

By voting for both a straight-party and a local candidate of the other
party, Krabill said, voters will spoil their ballots and not be counted at
all.

Such a tactic would be beneficial in Henry County, he said, where
Republicans vastly outnumber Democrats.

"A spoiled ballot against me is a vote for them, in a way," he said.

Krabill said he has taken his concerns to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign
Disclosure Board.

Cisco said he has researched the matter and found that marking ballots for
individual candidates after voting a straight-party ticket would not spoil
voters' ballots.

He said independent candidate Rick SyWassink used a similar advertisement in
his failed 1996 campaign.

Parriott also said he plans to release a statement calling Krabill's
administration of the sheriff's department budget into question.

He said an item pulled from a fiscal 1999 audit shows $5,072 worth of fiscal
1998 checks expended against the next fiscal year's funds. Parriott
questioned the approval process and a lack of supporting receipts for the
department's petty cash fund.

If Parriott were to win the Nov. 7 election, he would become Henry County's
first Democratic sheriff in almost 70 years.
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