Kootenai County Sheriff could be sued for defamation from public forum; some have differing accounts of what happened

A Coeur d’Alene woman intends to take legal action against Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris over alleged comments he made to her during a public forum in April, but some have differing accounts of what actually happened.

Local photographer Pennie Collinson filed a notice of intent to sue Norris and the county July 10 for slander, defamation and emotional distress, according to the claim. Collinson said she attended the Kootenai County Republican Party Primary Election Forum in Cataldo where she was working as a photographer for Mike Bauer, a candidate for sheriff. More than 50 people attended the event. During the candidate portion of the forum, the claim says, Norris pointed out Collinson and accused her of performing sex acts and photographing child pornography at a local library.

Norris has since issued a news release under the sheriff’s office official letterhead on the matter, where he claimed the accusations were “100% false” and that it was a way to tarnish his reputation before the election. He is offering $10,000 of his own money for a video that proves Collinson’s claims, the release said.

“I will not allow political operatives to tarnish my reputation,” Norris said in the release. “There is a small group of people who think it’s OK to use the judicial system to smear local elected officials and that needs to stop.”

Sheriff’s office spokesman Lt. Zachary Sifford, who writes the news releases, said he does it under the direction of Norris. Asked why Norris issued a sheriff’s office news release about pending legal litigation, his assistant Linda Roberts wrote via email that he has no further comment and maintains the allegations are false.

Fred Scheffelmaier, the owner of the Country Barn Bed and Breakfast in Cataldo, hosted and emceed the forum. Scheffelmaier opened the meeting with a prayer, he said.

He then recalled there was discussion about removing books from public libraries – which Norris personally did last year, when he removed two books from the Post Falls Public Library he believed were inappropriate. Norris indicated at the time that he would rather pay for the books than give them back.

The conversation about library books during the forum seemed to go on and on, Scheffelmaier said, until he heard Norris “say derogatory remarks that were uncalled for and not right.”

Scheffelmaier declined to say what the comments were word for word.

“I was dumbfounded,” he said. “Why would you call someone something like that in a public meeting? … It wasn’t right. I just got through stating we were there to promote yourselves, no negative conduct.”

Scheffelmaier then had to step in and shut the conversation down, he said, and prompted the candidates to move on to something else.

A video shared with The Spokesman-Review by the Idaho Report, also published online, showed a woman who identified herself as a Coeur d’Alene photographer on stage telling Norris that she was the one who brought certain books in the library to his attention.

“What you said to me is disgusting,” the woman says in the video. “I do not advocate for child pornography.”

In a different video shared with The Spokesman-Review, Norris stands up afterward and says that he has been accused of banning books, and he hasn’t.

“The previous speaker has said this election’s going to be much different because I banned books or I support banning books or burning books,” Norris said in the recording. “… All I said was if it contains material in violation of Idaho law, it should be in an area 18 and over.”

Kootenai County Commissioner Bruce Mattare also attended the forum and painted a different picture of events. Mattare said he never saw or heard Norris make any derogatory comments to Collinson.

“It never happened,” he said, adding that the filing appears to be a way to disparage Norris. Mattare said he’s familiar with Collinson, who has been sued for defamation .

Records show Collinson was sued in 2020 for defamation and emotional distress by Jennifer Peacock of Hank’s Law Foundation, a group that advocates for anti-animal cruelty laws. That lawsuit was dismissed. Records show Collinson appeared in a number of lawsuits throughout the last 10 years as the plaintiff and also as defendant.

Under the tort claim, Norris must respond within 90 days of the filing. If that doesn’t happen, Collinson is able to sue. She is seeking $500,000, the claim says. Her lawyer declined comment Tuesday.