A Deschutes sheriff candidate is at the center of a messy public records battle

A California judge has tentatively decided to disclose documents related to an internal investigation of Deschutes County Sheriff candidate Kent Vander Kamp to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, but must hear more from the agency about how it plans to use the records before proceeding.

In April, Sheriff Shane Nelson began investigating Vander Kamp's previous experience with the La Mesa Police Department in Southern California on the belief Vander Kamp, now a sergeant at the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, was fired from his position as a reserve deputy for dishonesty in 1997.

But when Nelson's public information request for Vander Kamp's employment records came back empty, he sued the city of La Mesa for failing to disclose records of an internal investigation of Vander Kamp that a captain in the La Mesa Police Department told Nelson had been retained.

Vander Kamp said through his lawyer, Randy Harvey, that he does not recall the circumstances of his termination. He has requested a copy of the records from the La Mesa Police Department on his own behalf, and intends to share them with the sheriff's office and the public once he has them in hand, Harvey said.

California records law The city of La Mesa is withholding the documents from the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office because of a statute that requires California public agencies to keep officer records confidential except under specific circumstances of misconduct, such as dishonesty, use of excessive force and sexual assault.

According to the tentative ruling in Superior Court of California County of San Diego, even though Vander Kamp's records meet those standards for release, a judge must first determine if the information is relevant to the lawsuit. Subsequently, because this lawsuit is in reference to the city of La Mesa's failure to adequately fulfill a public records request, it is unclear whether or not Nelson could use the records in his investigation into Vander Kamp.

"The court will therefore hear from DCSO regarding the nature of the ... investigation, the relevance of that case to this litigation, and how DCSO intends to use the material in light of the mandatory protective order," Judge Loren Freestone said in the tentative ruling.

The Brady list and implications of dishonesty Nelson wants Vander Kamp's personnel records from the city of La Mesa because he believes Vander Kamp was put on a Brady list in California following his termination from the La Mesa Police Department. Brady lists are records kept by local district attorneys documenting officers disqualified from testimony due to dishonesty.

Typically, investigations into an officer's Brady-list standing are triggered by pending testimony in an important criminal case. Deschutes County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Jason Wall said that Vander Kamp "has court proceedings" between now and the end of the year, but Harvey told The Bulletin Vander Kamp is not scheduled to testify in any upcoming civil or criminal cases. In any case, Wall confirmed the agency intends to use the documents as part of an ongoing administrative investigation into Vander Kamp.

But even without the release of Vander Kamp's employment records, documents from the sheriff's office lawsuit against La Mesa confirm Vander Kamp was terminated with cause from his unpaid position as a part-time reserve police officer in 1997. Vander Kamp, who now leads field operations for the interagency Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team, previously told The Bulletin his role in La Mesa was a volunteer position directing parking.

In a deposition obtained by The Bulletin, Capt. Matthew Nicholass from the La Mesa Police Department confirmed that the agency had retained records from an internal investigation into Vander Kamp. Nicholass went on to describe the exact nature of the investigation, but that portion of the deposition transcript has been sealed until the court issues its final decision.

Unsealed portions of the deposition though, suggest Vander Kamp was accused of dishonesty and that the Los Angeles Police Department was also involved in the investigation. Nicholass also said Vander Kamp is ineligible for re-hire at the La Mesa Police Department.

A decades old application Deschutes County Undersheriff Paul Garrison also states in court documents that Vander Kamp did not list his employment with the La Mesa Police Department when he applied for a job with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office in 2004. Wall told The Bulletin that the sheriff's office was unaware of Vander Kamp's omission until a citizen notified the department in the spring, which is what triggered the initial public records request and investigation.

Harvey, Vander Kamp's lawyer, dismissed Vander Kamp's omission on his application to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, wondering why Nelson chose to request these documents more than two decades after Vander Kamp was first hired.

"He was hired ... years ago by Deschutes County, and at the time he was hired, he signed a form that gave them the right to request his entire file from La Mesa. So they had the right ... years ago to get his complete file and apparently didn't do it ... There doesn't seem to be a reason for them to ask for the files ... years later," Harvey said.

Records from the Deschutes County Clerk's Office show Vander Kamp similarly did not list his experience in La Mesa on his candidate filing forms.

Broader political implications Harvey said he could think of one reason Nelson might want the documents: because it serves him politically.

Nelson will step down as sheriff when his term ends in January, but he has openly endorsed Vander Kamp's opponent, Deschutes County Sheriff's Capt. William Bailey, in the Nov. 5 election. This month, Vander Kamp filed a tort claim notice — the official notification of a possible lawsuit against a government agency — that indirectly accuses Nelson of using the lawsuit in La Mesa, and his own internal investigation, to sway voters toward Bailey.

"It's highly disingenuous on the part of the sheriff, who's actively backing ... Bailey to trump up this investigation weeks before an election, and filing a lawsuit to get records from California that aren't going to show any misconduct, just so he can cast aspersions and doubt on a fine officer's name to create a hubbub before an election," Harvey said.

This is not the first time Nelson has been accused of impropriety by a candidate for sheriff. In 2021, Nelson was found personally liable for $10,000 in punitive damages after he fired his former opponent, Eric Kozowski, a year after winning the 2016 election. In total, Kozowski was awarded $1 million in economic damages for wrongful termination.

Voters may not have closure on this issue until after the election. It is unclear when a final decision by the San Diego Superior Court will be released, and hearings are scheduled as far out at Nov. 8, three days after the next Deschutes County Sheriff is elected.