WHERE DOES “POSSE COMITATUS” FIT IN?

by Sharon Rondeau

(Sep. 22, 2014) — On Sunday, The Post & Email reported that a group of approximately a dozen citizens in Stevens County, WA filed a “1st Amendment criminal complaint” with county chief prosecutor Timothy Rasmussen alleging that 11 public officials did not have legally-mandated oaths of office on file as public records.

After compiling the documents but before publication of the story, The Post & Email contacted Rasmussen via the email address provided on his website for comment.

On Monday morning, we also placed a call to Stevens County Sheriff Kendle Allen’s office, asking for the media person, and were told that the sheriff himself is the media representative and was out of the office until Tuesday.  Our contact information was taken and we were promised a return call then.

Our initial email to Rasmussen reads as follows:

From: Sharon Rondeau
Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2014 8:08 AM
To: Tim Rasmussen
Subject: MEDIA REQUEST FOR COMMENT

Hello, I own and operate an electronic newspaper and have received a report of 12 criminal complaints having been filed with your office by a group of citizens who allegedly discovered that the person sitting in the office of Stevens County Sheriff did not timely take an oath of office prior to his assumption of that office on January 1, 2011.  The violation of law cited, among others, is that of RCW 29A.60.28(3)(a), which states that an oath of office must be administered within the ten-day period before taking office and repeated if the person was serving out an unfinished term of a predecessor, which reportedly was the case with Kendle Allen.

The citizens claim that no oath of office is on file for Kendle Allen prior to March 12, 2014.

I am also going to contact the sheriff’s office to discover whether or not it can produce proof of an oath of office prior to March 12, 2014.

Which court clerk would have it on file if it was, in fact, administered?

Thank you very much.

Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com
P.O. Box 195
Stafford Springs, CT  06076
203-987-7948
editor@thepostemail.com

to which Rasmussen responded on Monday:

From: trasmussen@co.stevens.wa.us
To: Sharon Rondeau
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 09:12:35 -0700
Subject: RE: MEDIA REQUEST FOR COMMENT

The information you have is incorrect. No charges have been  “filed”  against Kendle Allen.  There is a group of “sovereign citizens”  who have demanded that criminal charges be filed, but none have been filed at this time.  This office is responsible for the filing of criminal charges, not some group of self-appointed citizens who claim to speak for the county.

Tim Rasmussen

Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney

The Post & Email notes that it did not claim to Rasmussen that “charges have been filed against Kendle Allen.”  What we said was, “…I own and operate an electronic newspaper and have received a report of 12 criminal complaints having been filed with your office by a group of citizens who allegedly discovered that the person sitting in the office of Stevens County Sheriff did not timely take an oath of office prior to his assumption of that office on January 1, 2011.”

The Post & Email then replied:

From:  Sharon Rondeau
Sent:  Mon 9/22/14 12:16 PM
To:  Tim Rasmussen (trasmussen@co.stevens.wa.us)

I see.  So is it accurate to say that a group of citizens has asked you to file criminal charges against Kendle Allen?

Did he have an oath of office on file prior to March 12, 2014 that you are aware of?

Do you have an oath of office on file?

Are there active grand juries in the state of Washington?

Regarding “sovereign citizens,” could you provide a definition?  I am aware of the term but would like to know how your office might define them.

Thank you very much.

Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com

Rasmussen then responded with:

It is accurate to say that a several people (13)  have demanded that I file criminal charges against Kendle Allen. They have made other similar demands regarding other things they think I should do. They are running a candidate for the office of Sheriff.

Washington does not use the Grand Jury System.  The decision to prosecute is vested in the office of the Prosecuting Attorney.  A judge makes the finding of probable cause in felony cases upon our submission to him/her of an information (complaint).

Stevens County handles the oaths of office of elected officials in the same way every other county in Washington handles them.  They are filed in the office of the auditor.  Kendle Allen and all officials including myself comply with state law in this regard.

I think you know much more than you are letting on regarding sovereign citizens.

Tim Rasmussen

to which we responded:

Yes, I’ve reported on the term extensively, including speaking with the FBI about it.  I asked for your definition because I am an investigative journalist seeking all sides of the story and any information pertinent thereto.

Over the last five years, I have also reported a tremendous amount on grand juries or the lack thereof, including in my own state of Connecticut.

Thank you for your responses.

Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com

Another email received from Rasmussen at approximately the same time without explanation reads as follows:

Tim Rasmussen (trasmussen@co.stevens.wa.us)