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Ethics complaint against Wulf tossed

Rep. Derek Wulf (R-Hudson),

An ethics complaint filed against Representative-elect Derek Wulf (R-Hudson) has been dismissed by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

During the Nov. 16 meeting of the six-member board which, as part of its work, oversees enforcement of Iowa’s Campaign Disclosure Act and Government Ethics and Lobbying Act as it applies to political campaigns, a complaint was addressed by the board lodged by Kimberly Karol, a resident of La Porte City, against Wulf concerning his residency.

According to board chair James Albert, Karol’s complaint alleged that Wulf – who recently ran for and won election to the Iowa House of Representatives in District 76 which includes northeast Tama County – did not live in the district he hoped to represent.

“These complaints fall outside this board’s jurisdiction,” Albert said.

The complaint was ultimately dismissed by the board unanimously due to a ‘lack of legal sufficiency.’

Earlier in the meeting, the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board’s Executive Director Zach Goodrich explained that the board must use three criteria in order to determine if a complaint is legally sufficient to investigate.

The three criteria include the presentation of facts that would establish a violation of Iowa Code, specifically chapters 68A and 68B which are under the board’s jurisdiction; the alleged conduct happened within the last three years; the subject of the complaint is under the jurisdiction of the board.