By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
A former Lincoln County sheriff’s detective who moved into a similar position with the district attorney’s office last year under great controversy is returning to the sheriff’s office July 1 as a patrol deputy.
Abby Dorsey worked in the sheriff’s office for 23 years as a corrections deputy, patrol deputy, sergeant and as a detective before resigning last spring and moving to the district attorney’s office as a detective.
But Dorsey’s recruitment by district attorney Lanee Danforth last year set off a months-long dispute with county commissioners that included an accusatory social media campaign and threat of a lawsuit by the district attorney and commissioner responses that they did not trust her. The issue was settled in April 2022 when all the parties agreed to remove language from the detective’s job description that allowed investigations of any local or state government employee or agency.
Dorsey recently applied for a sheriff’s patrol position, was hired effective July 1 and will spend a month in training before starting as the second Waldport contract deputy in August, said Sheriff Curtis Landers. Her hours will be 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.
Landers said although his office has a third detective position that is not filled, it was more important to “get our patrol numbers where they should be.”
“She’s willing to come back and wanted to come back,” Landers told YachatsNews. “We had the spot to fill and there was someone willing to do it who had experience.”
Dorsey declined to comment on her return to the sheriff’s office. Danforth did not respond to a request for comment.
In the district attorney’s office, the detective helps with all death investigations, is a member of law enforcement teams investigating major crimes, crashes, child and elder abuse, helps with follow up investigations, testifies in court, and helps locate witnesses and victims for grand jury appearances or trials.
Proliferation of lawsuits
Dorsey’s departure from the district attorney’s office comes on the heels of three recent lawsuits – two by a former deputy district attorney in state and federal courts against Danforth and chief deputy Lynn Howard, and one in circuit court by Danforth challenging commissioners’ control over her office’s personnel.
Former deputy district attorney Kenneth “Rusty” Park filed a lawsuit June 2 in federal court alleging that Danforth and Howard violated his rights of free speech, right of association for his activity as president of the county employee’s union, and due process rights after Danforth took office in 2021.
Park filed a lawsuit in Lincoln County circuit court the same day against Danforth and Howard on six allegations ranging from retaliation for whistleblowing, to age and gender discrimination, to wrongful termination. His lawsuit asks for $3 million on each count.
Park had been a deputy district attorney under former district attorneys Michelle Branam and Jonathan Cable since 2015 after working as a police officer and prosecutor in the Midwest. Danforth was elected district attorney in May 2020, took office in January 2021 and put Park on administrative leave a year later. After months of back-and-forth personnel action, Park took a job with the Benton County district attorney’s office last October.
Because she is considered a state employee, the Oregon Department of Justice is defending Danforth in both lawsuits. Howard is being represented by attorneys from the county’s insurance carrier.
Danforth is also involved in a more recent personnel dispute with county commissioners. She filed a request for a temporary restraining order in May asking a circuit judge to prohibit commissioners from preventing her from creating a second chief deputy’s position and promoting a deputy district attorney to fill it.
The county’s personnel office had stopped Danforth from promoting Jenna Wallace to the new position, saying she did not have authority to do that. Danforth disagreed and filed suit.
In its response June 13, an outside attorney for the county said Oregon law gives counties the right to set the number of deputy district attorneys and their pay, that Danforth knows the law and there is “no objective reason” to believe otherwise. The county said also said Danforth’s claim was “frivolous, and/or are made without merit and have been brought for the sole purpose of harassing and causing financial expense” to the county.
The county asked that Danforth be liable for attorneys fees and an “enhanced prevailing party fee” of $5,000.
Polk County presiding circuit judge Norman Hill has been brought in to oversee the case and set a Sept. 6 hearing to consider motions.
- Quinton Smith is the editor of YachatsNews.com and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com
Lincoln County district attorney Lanee Danforth acts like an overgrown baby when she doesn’t get her way. I’ve lived in numerous counties around the country and have never seen a local district attorney get in fights with her own employees and with county commissioners the way this one does. Can hardly wait till next year to vote her out of office.
It appears to me that all she’s been trying to do is the right thing. She doesn’t answer to the board of commissioners, she answers to the voters. She’s a state elected official she doesn’t work for the county commissioners and they have no control over how she runs her office.
I’d appreciate less drama in the Lincoln County district attorney’s office. Having a district attorney who followed the rules would help. When is she up for re-election?
What rule has she broken exactly? It’s a lawsuit which means nothing because, anyone can sue anyone for anything. All she has tried to do is run her office and hold staff members accountable. At least that what it sounds like to me. For the past several years hasn’t everyone been demanding accountability for law enforcement.
Why did Sheriff’s Deputy Abby Dorsey leave the district attorney’s office after such a ‘battle’ to get her in the first place? She is a fine officer and very knowledgeable at her craft. She has always been an upstanding citizen as well as a public employee. It’s a shame she left when that office and our community could have benefited so much from her experience. Wherever you land, keep shining Abby!
So happy to see Abby back, she is an amazing person that has such a great handle on the community.