Lewis County approves legal protection for Swope, other elected officials, in ongoing lawsuit
May 20-Lewis County will officially offer legal and financial protections to four county employees - including Commissioner Sean Swope - more than a month after a former employee filed a First Amendment lawsuit.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution during its Tuesday morning business meeting that approved legal defense and indemnity for four employees and their "marital community."
The indemnity applies specifically to a lawsuit brought against the county by former Lewis County Coroner's Office employee Paul Bromm, who in the suit alleges his recent firing violated his First Amendment rights to free expression.
His employment termination came after comments and posts on social media critical of Charlie Kirk following his assasination in Utah last year.
Ahead of approval, Commissioner Lindsey Pollock announced that the resolution had been moved forward on the advice of independent legal counsel from outside the county government.
Ahead of the vote, Commissioner Scott Brummer included for the record that the county had consulted three groups of attorneys for legal advice on the move to indemnify employees. According to his comments, those groups include the Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, attorneys with the county's risk pool insurance and the prosecuting attorney's office of another county that he did not specify.
"All believe that these individuals acted within the duties of their office and believe that we are required by state law to indemnify," Brummer said.
The board previously heard the same resolution roughly a month earlier, but failed to pass it. At the time, Brummer motioned to bring the resolution up for a vote, but the motion received no second. Pollock, at the time, announced she would not second the motion without more time to consider the action. Swope recused himself in accordance with state law since the resolution is of direct personal interest, making him unable to support the motion.
This time, the motion was approved by both voting commissioners, Brummer and Pollock. Swope once again recused himself from voting on the action.
The newly approved resolution offers legal defense and indemnification to Swope as well as Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod, Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer and Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza.
The action allows Lewis County to provide official legal defense for the employees and also insulates those employees against non-punitive financial costs associated with the case.
Bromm was terminated from his position as Deputy Coroner in September of last year following posts made to his personal Facebook account shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, making light of the event and criticizing the deceased political commentator.
After the post, Bromm faced backlash on the social media site from many sources, including Swope and Washington state Rep. Joel McEntire, who first called out the posts to Swope and in his own post referred to Bromm as a "disgusting person."
Swope added his own post confirming Bromm's identity as a county employee, condemning Bromm's posts and advising community members to report Bromm to his superior, McLeod.
The Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office also filed a Potential Impeachment Disclosure (PID), more commonly known as a "Brady letter." The letters, which are almost exclusively used for law enforcement officers, are intended to disclose conduct that may impact an officer's credibility as a witness in a court of law.
Bromm filed his lawsuit against the county through his legal representation Lunde Legal, PLLC, on Wednesday, April 15. The suit claims the county committed a civil rights violation in terminating Bromm and alleged that his firing was an act of retaliation. The suit does not stipulate any exact financial demands, but does request a trial by jury.
Earlier in the month, both the county and the city moved to dismiss Bromm's claims against them stating that they did not have valid standing. The county specifically alleged that the claim filed by Bromm's representation does not apply to local jurisdictions and therefore should be dismissed.
Critics have pointed out that the most recent lawsuit facing the county comes after others that have already cost taxpayers thousands of dollars. Most recently, the county settled a lawsuit from Gather Church regarding its needle exchange program at a total cost of about $600,000, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.