Two Grand County sheriff’s deputies were disciplined after they spoke publicly about their concerns surrounding Sheriff Jamison Wiggins, documents obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune show. One of those deputies was running against Wiggins for sheriff when he agreed to an interview with The Tribune.

Deputies Joshua Stalpes and Craig Nelson were each given a “letter of counsel” on June 12, less than a week after The Tribune published an investigation into reported turmoil inside the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, including accusations that Wiggins tried to derail a major drug trafficking prosecution.

Stalpes, who made the drug trafficking arrest at the center of that dispute, spoke in the interview about the case and his efforts to seek an outside investigation. Nelson, who at the time was gathering signatures to challenge Wiggins in the election later this year, talked about why he was running for sheriff and the problems he believed existed within the department.

[Read more: In Grand County, allegations against a sheriff met a system reluctant to act]

“The First Amendment protects everyone,” each letter begins, “and the agency’s interests are outweighed by these rights.” Grand County Sheriff Lt. Al Cymbaluk added that the letters did not “pass judgment on the accuracy of the article or your objectives.”

However, Cymbaluk continued, the two deputies violated sheriff’s office policies prohibiting employees from speaking to journalists without prior approval and bar them from releasing confidential law-enforcement information.

Stalpes was also disciplined for writing a Facebook post about the article and his efforts to seek an outside investigation, which Cymbaluk found violated a policy which states employees should not engage in any conduct on- or off-duty which “tends to reflect unfavorably upon this department or its members.”

Both deputies were warned that “another incident of the same nature” could lead to immediate disciplinary action, including termination.

The sheriff did not respond to emails seeking comment.

‘A punishment for protected speech’

Stalpes did not share his letter of counsel with The Tribune, and when contacted, he declined to speak to a reporter and directed questions to Wiggins.

Nelson gave The Tribune a copy of his letter, and said in response to written questions that he plans to appeal and wants the letter removed from his personnel file. He said that his attorney with the Fraternal Order of Police attempted to get information from the Grand County Personnel Services director about what type of appeals process the county is using, but that request has gone unanswered.

Nelson said he was speaking as a private citizen, and as a political candidate, when he was interviewed — and never represented himself as speaking on behalf of the sheriff’s office. In his latest remarks, he emphasized again that he was “responding in my personal capacity” and not on behalf of the sheriff’s office.

“I view the Letter of Counsel as punishment for protected speech,” he said. “The fact that I was running against Sheriff Wiggins at the time is part of the context, but the broader issue is even more important: deputies should not be punished for speaking truthfully about public accountability, officer safety, or concerns involving law-enforcement leadership.”

Nelson didn’t submit enough signatures to be on the ballot and is no longer a candidate for sheriff. Only Wiggins and Jim Winder — a former Salt Lake County sheriff and one-time Moab police chief — will be on the November ballot.

Nelson believes he has been retaliated against in other ways since the article was published, he said. He was moved to night shifts with a day’s notice, and was recently given another letter of counsel for hitting a jackrabbit with his vehicle while on duty and not reporting damage under its front bumper immediately, he said. He doesn’t dispute that happened but said he felt consequences for policy violations have not been consistently applied to all employees.

Misconduct allegations

For its recent investigation, The Tribune spoke to seven current and former Grand County sheriff deputies. They described a workplace where they felt criticism of leadership was viewed as disloyalty and where even small symbols of status — such as a directive that only Wiggins and his chief deputy wear cowboy hats in staff photos — became points of resentment among employees.

Wiggins said concerns around morale reflected the challenges of a new administration, rather than dysfunction.

“We have also recently come through a period where those dynamics were more pronounced,” he wrote in response to questions sent to him in May. “A Sheriff’s first term is always the hardest; everybody is transitioning into their new roles, which will always come with its own challenges.”

Nelson and Stalpes were the only current deputies who were identified by name in the article.

Nelson’s comments centered around his decision to run for sheriff: that he saw a department that was “almost non-functional” — where, he said, some are favored, calls for help languish because no one will respond, and deputies often aren’t given back-up on dangerous calls.

But the most serious dispute centered around accusations that Wiggins had pushed to have charges dropped in the 2023 drug case after he was contacted by a local defense attorney.

During that traffic stop, Stalpes seized more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine and 13 kilograms of cocaine — but he and others now allege Wiggins tried to get the case dismissed at the behest of a defense attorney, and later retaliated against those who questioned him.

Wiggins denies these allegations, but acknowledged he spoke to a defense attorney about the case after she raised concerns. Stalpes told The Tribune that Wiggins told him to “get this case dismissed” and that it “wasn’t worth it.” And, at one point, the sheriff texted Stalpes: “I’m trying to convince [the prosecutor] to drop your case tomorrow.”

The defense attorney, Happy Morgan, said in response to questions that she felt there were problems with Stalpes’ investigative methods which she alleged were not in line with the law or county policies.

A conflict prosecutor later dismissed the case, citing a lack of admissible evidence. Stalpes said there was no internal investigation, and he was never disciplined. He has since been promoted to task force commander.

Wiggins denied pressuring Stalpes or the original Grand County prosecutor. He said that he did speak about the case with Morgan, who had called him after Stalpes had testified and recommended that the sheriff look into it.

Stalpes, two other sheriff’s office employees and a prosecutor went to the Utah attorney general’s office asking for an investigation, which didn’t file a case. He then went to police regulators, who declined to do an investigation and suggested to his attorney that he bring his concerns to the Grand County Commission.

The commission has not taken up its own inquiry.