Embattled sheriff has challengers

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two candidates have filed paperwork to contest Keokuk County Sheriff Jeff Shipley in this fall's election after Shipley was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in July but had the charges dropped last month.

Ron George, a Democrat who was the sheriff for 28 years before Shipley defeated him in 2008, has filed his candidacy paperwork with the county auditor's office. Thomas Hadley, a Republican who also sought the post that year, is back in the race as well.

Shipley has not filed his paperwork, but a man who answered the Sheriff's Office phone Wednesday and refused to identify himself said he intends to run again. Shipley did not return a call from The Gazette.

Shipley was arrested July 27 after a state trooper pulled him over in Sigourney and reported a strong odor of alcohol coming from his truck. The trooper also noticed Shipley had bloodshot and watery eyes and Busch Light cans behind the passenger seat, according to an investigative report.

Shipley refused to cooperate with field sobriety tests and did not consent to a blood alcohol content test.

The Washington County Attorney's Office last month cited several reasons for dropping the drunken driving charge, including a lack of evidence that his blood alcohol content was over the legal limit to drive and his popularity in town.

“The trial would take place in Keokuk County where Sheriff Shipley was elected in 2008 by receiving 49 percent of the vote in a four-person race,” Washington County Attorney Larry Brock said at the time.

Brock said his office also deferred prosecution because Shipley was “still coping with the tragic events” involving a fatal shooting of Keokuk County Deputy Eric Stein on April 4.

Last summer's operating while intoxicated arrest was not Shipley's first alcohol offense. He was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated and child endangerment following an incident on Coralville Lake in August 2008 - after winning the primary election for sheriff against incumbent George but before the general election in November.

George re-entered the race as an independent after that, but Shipley still won the election with 2,630 votes to George's 1,859 and Hadley's 636.

Shipley pleaded guilty on Nov. 25, 2008, to operating a motorboat while intoxicated and was sentenced to pay fines and spend two days in jail, according to court records.

George, meanwhile, ran into trouble in September 2009 after Shipley reported items missing from the Sheriff's Office, including a thermal-imaging camera worth $8,400. After an investigation, state auditors reported that George hadn't maintained a secure evidence room when he was sheriff, and evidence and seized property were kept in unsecure locations.

George eventually returned the items, according to the report.

George and Hadley did not immediately return calls from The Gazette on Wednesday.