A federal jury on Tuesday awarded more than $5 million to four former high-ranking Adams County Sheriff’s Office employees who said former Sheriff Richard Reigenborn forced them to resign in 2019 because they had supported his opponent in the election, their attorney said.
Former chiefs Timothy James Coates and Gene Claps, along with former captain Mark Mitchell and former commander Kevin Currier brought the federal lawsuit against Adams County and Reigenborn in 2020.
They alleged Reigenborn — who has since been convicted of felony forgery for faking police training records — wrongly ousted them from their positions and then filled their roles with his supporters and friends.
Claps has since been elected sheriff and was sworn in Jan. 10, 2023.
The jury returned its verdict Tuesday after deliberating for about two hours, court records show.
“This sends a message that law enforcement is about law enforcement, not about political maneuvering,” said Siddhartha Rathod, an attorney for the men. “These are professional law enforcement officers and professional law enforcement is never going to be about politics.”
The four plaintiffs supported Reigenborn’s Republican opponent in the sheriff’s race by donating to his campaign and publicly backing him. They also withdrew support from the Fraternal Order of Police Colorado Lodge 1, where Reigenborn, who ran as a Democrat, served in various leadership roles for years.
The jury verdict shows Reigenborn violated the four men’s First Amendment rights, his firm said in a news release. The men alleged Reigenborn violated their rights to free speech and due process when he told them to resign or be fired one week after he took office. All four men resigned in order to keep their benefits.
Adams County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Adam Sherman declined to immediately comment on the verdict Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Adams County did not immediately return requests for comment.
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