Pollock delays indemnity for Lewis County officials in Bromm lawsuit
Four Lewis County officials named in a recent lawsuit against the county will not have their legal costs covered by the county for the time being.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday morning failed to pass a resolution to provide legal indemnity to county officials in a lawsuit filed by a former employee of the Lewis County Coroner's Office, Paul Bromm.
The commissioners did not actually vote on the resolution that would have given some financial protection to four individuals named in the suit - Commissioner Sean Swope, Sheriff Rob Snaza, Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer and Coroner Warren McLeod.
The motion from Commissioner Scott Brummer to bring Resolution 26-142 to a vote failed due to neither of his fellow commissioners seconding the motion. Swope announced before the motion that he would recuse himself from voting on the item.
Washington state ethics laws under WAC 30-08-090 require county commissioners to recuse themselves from discussions or actions on issues that could benefit them financially. In this case, the resolution includes Swope in a proposal to provide what amounts to insurance or financial protections for possible costs incurred due to the Bromm lawsuit.
Commissioner Lindsey Pollock, who currently serves as chair of the board of commissioners, did not come to the rescue by offering a second. After a moment of silence, Pollock instead announced that the motion had died for lack of a second.
Pollock offered a brief explanation for her decision, stating that she had more questions she wanted answered before taking up the resolution and claiming that the resolution was moved forward while she was "absent on official county business." She added that she had not yet decided on the issue.
"This requires a lot of thought, details and nuance to be understood," Pollock said. "I still have some more questions about it. Not judging one way or the other, I just would like to have my questions answered before we move forward with this item."
According to draft versions of the meeting minutes from the Lewis County commissioners' directors' update meeting from the Wednesday, April 22, Pollock arrived at the 9 a.m. meeting at 9:44 a.m., after the board of commissioners had concluded an executive session to discuss the Bromm litigation.
Minutes for the commissioners' county manager update meeting on Monday morning show Pollock attended the entire meeting, but that the board did not address the Bromm litigation.
The actions on Tuesday do not rule out indemnity for the county officials named in the suit, but those officials will remain without the protections unless the board of commissioners takes action at a later date. "Bromm lawsuit" was listed on the agenda for the Lewis County commissioners directors' update meeting on Wednesday morning under executive session.
Indemnity laws in Washington state such as RCW 4.24.490, which covers indemnity for state employees, allow the government to declare its employees harmless, instead putting any financial or punitive burden on the government instead of the individual.
Bromm filed his lawsuit April 15, alleging that his recent termination from his job as Lewis County Deputy Coroner was an act of discrimination and retaliation against his personal views and violated his First Amendment right to free expression.
Bromm was terminated early last fall in response to backlash to images he posted on a personal Facebook account making fun of the Charlie Kirk assisnation that occurred on Sept. 10.
The county also filed a "Brady letter" for Bromm ahead of his termination. The letters are usually reserved for law enforcement officials and are intended to disclose conduct that might impact an officer's credibility in a court of law.
For previous reporting by The Chronicle on Bomm's lawsuit and his termination from employment with Lewis County, visit https://tinyurl.com/bdde7fek.
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 11:23 AM.