DES MOINES — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced a lawsuit against Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx for violating the state sanctuary county law by allegedly discouraging law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
Sheriff Marx said in a February 4 Facebook post that he “will make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt their actions from moving forward,” when talking about ICE detainers. He also says he has a “long-time stance on not recognizing detainers.”
Governor Reynolds filed an official complaint with the Iowa Attorney General’s office after the sheriff’s Facebook post, where he declared himself a “sanctuary sheriff” who will refuse ICE detainers. The Attorney General’s investigation found that the post violated Iowa Code chapter 27A, Iowa’s sanctuary counties law. The Attorney General gave the sheriff an opportunity to fix the violation by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, which included removing his original post and issuing a clarifying statement to the people of Winneshiek County that he would comply with ICE detainers. He refused, even though he knows that the violation may result in a loss of state funding for his entire county.
“Sanctuary counties are illegal under Iowa law,” said Attorney General Bird. “Sheriff Marx was given the chance to retract his statement, follow the law, and honor ICE detainers, but he refused—even at a cost to his home county. He left us with no choice but to take the case to court to enforce our laws and ensure cooperation with federal immigration authorities.”
The lawsuit was filed in the Polk County District Court.
Earlier, Sheriff Marx attempted to calm Bird down with an explanation of his view on the law, but this did not prevent Bird from issuing the lawsuit. See the statement, below:
A complaint was filed by Governor Reynold’s Office against Sheriff Dan Marx and Winneshiek County for an alleged violation of Iowa Code Chapter 27A regarding a statement from Sheriff Marx to the “People of Winneshiek County.” The Iowa Attorney General’s Office initiated its investigation of the complaint on February 7, 2025. On February 14, 2025, the Sheriff provided the information requested by the Attorney General. On March 26, 2025, the Attorney General issued her report concerning the investigation. Here is a link to the Attorney General’s investigative report.
Upon the conclusion of the investigation, to prevent litigation and potential loss of state funding, the Attorney General’s Office required us to take down the original post and replace Sheriff’s Marx’s original statement with a statement the Attorney General’s Office had scripted. The language of the post proposed by the Attorney General was not acceptable to the County. To demonstrate good faith, we chose to take the post down, and for the sake of transparency to the people of Winneshiek County, we are posting, below, our February 14, 2025, response to the AG’s request for information.
Sheriff Marx’s response outlines how Winneshiek County has been in compliance with Iowa Code Chapter 27A while protecting the constitutional rights of our citizens. The response also confirms the Sheriff’s Office commitment to remain in compliance with State and Federal immigration laws while staying true to the Constitutional protections afforded the citizens of Winneshiek County.
While we are disappointed and disagree with the Attorney General’s conclusion, we remain confident that this issue can be resolved. Thank you for your continued support.
2 thoughts on “Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird sues Winneshiek County Sheriff for alleged violation of Sanctuary County Law”
I am surprised that all she wants is a public apology. With her track record, I would guess she would also ask for first born male children to be delivered to her ASAP so she can mete out punishment on them.
Aw…. a republican with a heart