Complaints lodged against Havens for possible election violations

Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman is seeking an independent prosecutor to investigate complaints against Commissioner Douglas Havens, who used his county email address on a campaign mailer and shot a video endorsement by the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport authority board chairman in an airport conference room.

Havens used his dough@co.nezperce.id.us email address on a recent campaign mailer. And he confirmed that the video endorsement by airport board Chairman Gary Peters — which he posted on his campaign’s Facebook page — was shot at the airport’s new administration building public meeting room. He said the use of his county email address was an oversight.

“It probably just made it onto the flyer as a mistake,” Havens said, adding that he would black out the email address on his remaining postcards.

The use of the airport meeting room to shoot a campaign video is a grayer area. Idaho statute would prohibit that kind of use if the resource isn’t available to the general public. Airport manager Michael Isaacs said the room is locked unless there is a meeting there.

Asked about the complaints, Deputy Idaho Secretary of State Jason Hancock declined to comment directly. But he pointed to Idaho’s Public Integrity in Elections Act, which states that “The legislature finds that it is against the public policy of the state of Idaho for public funds, resources or property to be used to advocate for or against a candidate or ballot measure.”

The definition of “property or resources” in the statute is “goods, services, equipment, computer software and hardware, other items of intangible property, or facilities provided to or for the benefit of a candidate, a candidate’s personal campaign committee, a political issues committee for political purposes, or advocacy for or against a ballot measure or candidate.”

The definition concludes by stating that public property or resources that are available to the general public are exempt from this exclusion.

“That would suggest that if you were going to have a campaign rally in a public park, that would be OK because a park is a public resource that is available to the general public,” Hancock said, noting that a government email address might be construed to be a resource not available to the general public. “These are the kinds of things that have to be judgements for a county sheriff or prosecutor.”

Coleman declined to disclose the source of the complaints, adding that because of the active nature of the investigation, he couldn’t comment further.

“Per the requirements of the statute, the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office is ‘deemed disqualified from proceeding to enforce this chapter’ when the allegation specifically involves a county commissioner,” the statement said. “A conflict prosecutor is being sought to review the issue.”

The investigations aren’t the first time Havens has been scrutinized for alleged misuse of his public office. Last year he faced four charges of “officers not to be interested in sales” for purchasing items at a county auction that he voted to declare as surplus in his role as a county commissioner.

The state attorney general’s office filed the charge, but a judge dismissed the case when the assigned prosecutor forgot to provide the name of his primary witness on a routine disclosure to Havens’ attorney.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 310-1901, ext. 2266.