MADISON COUNTY, Iowa – Madison County continues to work to move forward after the recent arrest of its treasurer and news of her alleged money mismanagement, but tensions remain high.

Amanda DeVos was arrested late last month and is accused of felonious misconduct in office, tampering with records, fraudulent practice in the third degree, and third-degree theft. Her purported downfall has publicly exposed a major rift within the community and county government.

That rift is complete with mud-slinging between elected officials, accusations of inappropriate conduct within other branches of the county government, and impassioned public comments during Board of Supervisor meetings.

Such comments lasted more than half an hour on Tuesday with people upset over a slew of different issues.

One of those issues included the impending hire of Mikayla Simpson as Elections Deputy. Her reported online presence has some residents worried she may not be impartial.

“I’ve included a screenshot of a post on Ms. Simpson’s Facebook page, which indicates she may not have the temperament for the Election Deputy,” said Winterset resident Vicky Brenner. “It shows someone holding a ballot indicating their vote for Joe Biden. Ms. Simpson’s comment, quote, ‘It’s okay, If anyone tries to come and take Clarissa if he’s elected they’ll have a copy of the Constitution and an assault rifle with a 40 round mag in their face.’”

The alleged post was made in Oct. of 2020. Other residents seemed irritated at the effort to stop the hiring process.

“First of all, we have to go back four years and go through someone’s social media posts before we can hire someone?” countered Anita Smuck. “And, do we have to choose an independent? And then, so we choose someone who is registered as independent, do we have to go back and make sure they voted as independent?”

A job description for the Madison County Elections Deputy position did not address the topic of potential political leanings. Simpson was ultimately approved Tuesday by the BOS at $28 an hour. She will begin work on Monday, Feb. 17, and will report to County Auditor Teri Kaczinski.

While Madison County Human Resources Director Kelley Skerik confirmed in the BOS meeting that a background check had been completed on Simpson, Skerik also stated that she had not been involved in the hiring process. During last week’s special BOS session, the department to which Skerik reports was changed inexplicably from Auditor to County Attorney. It was unclear what interview process Simpson had to go through.

Early on in the meeting during an opportunity for department heads to levy a discussion with the BOS, the head of the county’s IT department addressed security concerns surrounding employees who had rendered their resignation.

“I want to start taking the VPN access away from them once H.R. has their notice,” stated IT Director Jenn McErlean. “Regardless of the length of time. Like, if it’s two months, they go without VPN for two months.”

When asked by a Supervisor why she wanted to take such measures, McErlean cited security issues and said “it’s not really appropriate for them to be taking it home and accessing the network.”

McErlean, who stated she had reportedly already discussed the issue with the county attorney, offered to discuss the details of her concerns with the BOS “offline.” Therefore, it was unclear what exactly had prompted the request.

According to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, DeVos used her access as county treasurer to alter government records to make it look like she had paid $758 for her vehicle registration plates when she had not. The investigation surrounding the treasurer is ongoing and more charges are pending, said Sheriff Jason Barnes. There is no indication of what the additional charges could be, or if the IT security concerns were in any way related to her arrest or someone else.

Later in the meeting, a WHO-13 interview about the future of a vital health department program took center stage as Supervisor Diane Fitch was publicly chastised for her involvement.

“Diane, do you know the nature of how this interview came about?” asked Health Department Chair Greta McNair in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the meeting.

“WHO contacted me and asked if they could just discuss home health care,” replied Fitch. “That’s all.”

The interview in question was between Supervisor Diane Fitch and reporter Katie Kaplan about the cancellation of the county Homemaker program. It took place last Thursday and has not aired yet. WHO-13, which has been looking into the impact for months, also requested an interview with Supervisor Heather Stancil, Public Health Administrator Susan Crowdes, and former Health Department Chair Dr. Kevin De Regnier, who served on the board for more than thirty years before stepping away at the end of 2025.

Stancil did not respond. Crowdes canceled the day before her scheduled interview stating she was new to the position and did “not feel comfortable being on camera.” Instead, she issued a prepared “fact sheet” (below) on behalf of the health department. Former Chair De Regnier and Supervisor Fitch agreed to speak.

The interviews were planned to be conducted in front of health department signage outside of the building. However, frigid temperatures brought the interview inside at the last minute, per Kaplan’s request to Crowdes who happened to be in the building where her office is located. WHO-13 was ushered into a large conference room where no sensitive health department data would be in jeopardy of being filmed. The interview with De Regnier took place in the front lobby.

The Homemaker Program provides a few hours of in-home nursing care every week to 27 residents in Madison County. The Board of Health voted to sunset it last Fall. Families were notified by mail in November. The health department officially notified the public on Tuesday.

“I’m here to officially inform you all of the closure of home health services in Madison County effective June 13th of this year,” said McNair. “A unanimous decision was made on September 4th of last year by the Madison County Board of Health.”

 County leaders said the program is ending because of budget cuts and a loss of state funding. Impacted residents were provided a list of private businesses and resources that may be able to help with assistance.

WHO-13’s story on the issue will be airing in the coming weeks.