Sheriff candidate Kozak criticized for website language

But at least one of Kozak’s opponents, 21-year CPD veteran Boyd Wrede, has said he thinks the language Kozak used in the descriptions of these prize packages undermines law enforcement and is not appropriate for a sheriff candidate to use.

The first package listed is the “Table Mountain ‘When in the Bleep will the deputy get here’ Package,” which includes the AR-15, a 60-round magazine, an American flag wall cabinet and a rustic Wyoming flag, which was made by Kozak.

“Under current policies (no fault of the road deputies), it may take a long time for a sheriff’s deputy to respond to Table Mountain for a crime in progress; no need to wait when you can take care of business with this special package. (When we say take care of business, we mean detain the perp until law enforcement arrives.),” the description reads.

The second package is titled “The Laramie County ‘Kick em Loose’ Kit” and includes the Glock.

“The Cheyenne Police tried to put this criminal away, but the Sheriff kicked him loose, again. If the system fails, you are ready to defend your family with this kit. (When we say defend, we mean detain the perp until law enforcement arrives.)

“When coverage improves after Brian is elected sheriff, you may keep the kit,” the listing says.

A disclaimer above the items says: “Sweepstake packages are in response to the current policy of the sheriff’s office and not a reflection of the hard-working deputies who are trying to do the best they can with the resources and direction they have been given. If elected, Brian will implement his action plan, which is designed to reconnect the agency with the community, invest in the hard-working employees and restructure the jail operations.”

But even with the disclaimer, Wrede said he doesn’t agree with the language used by Kozak.

“It undermines the deputies – whether he’s saying that ‘no fault of the deputies’ or not, it still undermines those deputies,” Wrede said. “I totally agree with defending yourself, your family, your home and everything – you have the right to do that by whatever means. But as as a candidate, I don’t think this is appropriate.”

Among the other items is a fire pit. Titled “Burn Baby Burn,” the listing says: “Need to burn those receipts before the IRS arrives at your home? You can do it with this fancy fire pit.”

It continues: “As a professional lawman, I must advise against destroying evidence; however, don’t forget your 5th Amendment rights.”

Wrede said he’d spoke to several residents who were offended by the item descriptions and what could be interpreted as having “redneck” undertones.

“I think his thinking he can buy votes with guns and alcohol was offensive to the conservative population who cherish their gun rights,” he said.

For his part, Kozak said he’s just trying to use humor to connect with potential voters and raise important concerns he said residents have with the current leadership of the sheriff’s office.

“I just try to lighten up a bit, because no one likes political campaigns, and so we try to bring out the issues that way so people talk about it,” he said. “I mean, the issues that people are very concerned about are response times, deputies are stretched thin because of (a) high turnover rate and certain policies within the agency that kind of restrict them from being able to do their job.”

That’s why he added the disclaimer, he said – to make it clear that he was making fun of the policies of the sheriff’s office, and not the men and women who work for it.

Kozak has criticized the policies of the sheriff’s office as they relate to jail operations. At his September campaign kickoff, and in a media statement released shortly after, he blamed a rise in crime in Laramie County on jail policies the sheriff’s office said were meant to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The jail’s reduction in capacity to allow for a quarantine period and greater spacing among inmates meant some individuals who would have been arrested for lower-level, nonviolent offenses, such as some property crimes, were not sent to jail at the time.

Laramie County Detention Capt. Don Hollingshead, who is in charge of operations at the jail and is also a candidate for sheriff, responded at the time by saying the policies were vital to help control last summer’s COVID-19 outbreak at the jail. Hollingshead said the policies had been recommended by the Cheyenne-Laramie County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and were used by many other jails on the Front Range.

As for the alcohol, Kozak said it’s included in the packages simply because it was donated to him by supporters. He pointed out that he’d included the phrase “Always drink responsibly and have a designated driver.”

Kozak added that the winners of the firearms will be required to go through a background check conducted by Frontier Arms in Cheyenne.

Hollingshead declined to comment on Kozak’s website’s remarks about the sheriff’s office. Current Sheriff Danny Glick did not respond to a request for comment.

What the law allows

At various points in time, the contest has been called a “raffle,” a “sweepstakes” or both on Kozak’s website. Kozak clarified that it is actually a sweepstakes, meaning that, unlike a raffle, a donation is not required to enter. In some areas, raffles are considered legally dicey for organizations because they require a purchase of a ticket.

In early versions of the website, the contest was only referred to as a raffle, and seemed to require a campaign contribution to enter. The current version of the website notes in several places that no donation or contribution is necessary to enter or win.

Kozak said his campaign changed the page to clarify that it was, in fact, a sweepstakes, because that had been the intention all along. From the beginning, they were giving out free tickets, he said.

The campaign has also sold tickets to raise money for charitable causes, including a benefit for a boy who was attacked by a dog.

“We received $605 through BrianKozak.com in donations and raffle ticket purchases; we gave the money to the sheriff’s office today so they can give it to Henry’s family. We are praying for him,” Kozak wrote in a Facebook comment in October.

Kozak’s campaign also hosted an event just before Christmas, during which, he said, they raised $465 for Laramie County Community Christmas.

Wyoming Statute 6-7-101 allows for raffles for charitable purposes and a hunting license raffle run by the state’s Game and Fish Department, but it is otherwise silent on the topic.

Monique Meese, communications and policy director for the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office, said raffles do not violate election code and are “quite common” in political campaigns.

When asked to clarify whether raffles by political campaigns are allowed under state statute, the Wyoming Attorney General’s office said they could not comment. Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove said she was not familiar enough with the situation to comment.