WINTERSET, Iowa — The chairwoman of the Madison County Supervisors, Heather Stancil, has filed a lawsuit against Madison County Sheriff Jason Barnes. Her action comes as Stancil is under investigation following a Facebook comment that raised concerns of election misconduct and voter intimidation. According to KCCI-TV, the lawsuit claims that Barnes “violated procedures in Iowa law that requires him to investigate alleged election misconduct at the direction of the attorney general, not on his own initiative, and to keep any report of his investigation confidential.”

The investigation stems from a Facebook post made by Stancil in response to a petition for a special election, instead of appointing to fill the county auditor’s position. In her comment, Stancil stated that if a special election were held, she would “work to find ways to offset that additional cost to taxpayers by shrinking government.”

On Monday, the Madison County Sheriff said that the sheriff’s office is fully aware of the online public statement and that the statement and a preliminary investigation were forwarded to the Iowa Attorney General’s office.

Stancil’s attorney does not have any public comment outside of the complaint.