Scrimsher defeats Rodriguez for Nez Perce County sheriff

There’s a new sheriff in town as independent challenger Bryce Scrimsher defeated two-term incumbent Republican Sheriff Joe Rodriguez.

Scrimsher won the election by 5,747 votes, beating Rodriguez 13,197, or 63.9 percent, to 7,450, or 36 percent.

“In accepting the people’s vote of confidence, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the good people of Nez Perce County for turning out to make sure their voices were heard and entrusting me with the honor of serving as your next Nez Perce County sheriff,” Scrimsher said Tuesday night. “Teachers, health care providers, first responders, businesswomen and men, farmers, students and engaged citizens have all spoken, and I am genuinely humbled by the support and trust that has been placed in me and my chief deputy, Mike Rigney. I also want to thank my wife, my family and so many dear friends for their unyielding support and encouragement.”

Rodriguez did not respond to Tribune requests for comment Tuesday evening.

Scrimsher campaigned on bringing “accountability, honesty, transparency and dignity back to the office,” which he said was missing with Rodriguez as sheriff.

“I stressed our priorities during this campaign, and I intend to immediately begin rebuilding employee morale and agency partnerships,” he said. “I will focus on needed critical training, reprioritizing the way sexual violence, abuse and animal cruelty are handled, and I intend to bring transparent and accountable fiscal management back to this department.”

Rodriguez defeated his deputy Sgt. Patrick Santos in the 2020 Republican Primary to set up the general election contest with his former chief deputy.

Rodriguez fired Scrimsher, who was his undersheriff, in November 2018. Scrimsher said he believed Rodriguez fired him because he guided an employee through the process of filing a sexual harassment complaint through the Idaho Human Rights Commission. Scrimsher filed a notice to sue the county over the firing, but has not filed a lawsuit in 2nd District Court.

“As a career law enforcement professional, running for office has been a grueling and humbling experience,” Scrimsher said. “We started with a commitment of running a clean, fact-based and people-centered campaign, and that is exactly what we have done, because that is what the residents of Nez Perce County asked for.”

Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman announced at the beginning of October he would no longer represent Rodriguez on personnel and management matters after Rodriguez released confidential personnel information allegedly from personnel files to anonymous website administrators at the Facebook webpage LC Valley Corruption over the summer.

The county’s insurer, the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, also placed a graduated deductible scheme in place for any future claims against Rodriguez involving personnel or management issues that begins at $15,000 and increases by $15,000 each subsequent claim until the deductible reaches $60,000. The deductible was $0 before the scheme was enacted by ICRMP.

Less than a week before Tuesday’s election, the Idaho Attorney General’s office released the findings of an investigation into Rodriguez to Nez Perce County. The investigation found Rodriguez evaded taxes by not reporting income he made on the side as an auto mechanic and that he misused a county credit card one time when he bought his wife dinner at Tomato Bros in Clarkston after a parade on Sept. 11, 2018.

In both cases, the Attorney General’s office declined to prosecute the criminal violations, opting for an audit by the Idaho Tax Commission and training on proper county credit card use. The tax evasion amounted to less than $400 not paid to the state over a five-year period. The investigation mostly found that the complaints did not show wrongdoing by Rodriguez.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.