Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced Thursday that her office is suing Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx “for violating the state sanctuary county law by discouraging law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.”
Bird’s lawsuit is a response to a post that Marx wrote on Facebook on February 4 in which he said he would not comply with ICE detainers because they are not signed off on by judges.
Bird wrote: “Sanctuary counties are illegal under IA law. Sheriff Marx was given the chance to fix his state-law violation, but he refused—even at a cost to his county. He left us no choice but to take the case to court to enforce the law & ensure cooperation with immigration enforcement.”
Sanctuary counties are illegal under IA law.
Sheriff Marx was given the chance to fix his state-law violation, but he refused—even at a cost to his county.
He left us no choice but to take the case to court to enforce the law & ensure cooperation with immigration enforcement. pic.twitter.com/4gHlryqD3M
— Iowa AG Brenna Bird (@AGIowa) March 27, 2025
Bird referred to Marx’s Facebook post as a violation of Iowa’s sanctuary counties law, and said she gave him “an opportunity to fix the violation” which would require Marx to remove the post and issue a new statement (prewritten by the AG’s office) that says he would comply with ICE detainers.
“He refused,” Bird reported, “even though he knows that the violation may result in a loss of state funding for his entire county.”
On Friday, KCCI Des Moines reported that Sheriff Marx removed the post (“to prevent litigation and potential loss of state funding) and wrote a new statement not scripted by the AG’s office.
The Sheriff’s Office post reads: “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.”
The overwhelming majority of the comments on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook post are supportive of Marx and his decision.
As one replied: “Unfortunately with the Attorney General we have, taking down your original post was probably the wisest decision in the face of her bullying and her ridiculous threat. I appreciate you sharing this post – and it makes her reaction to your post look even more outrageous.”
Another wrote: “Wish the rest of the state stood up for what’s right like Winneshiek county is. Hope to see this happen all over the US.”