Benton County officials on Tuesday agreed to settle a lawsuit with the county's auditor-treasurer on allegations she lied about maintaining a residence in Sauk Rapids while serving as an elected official.
Benton County settles lawsuit with auditor-treasurer over residency question
The agreement stipulates the county will drop litigation and Nadean Inman will no longer campaign to be re-elected.
August 3, 2022 at 4:15PM
The settlement, signed by Auditor-Treasurer Nadean Inman and Benton County Administrator Monty Headley, states the county will not pursue further litigation and Inman will agree to no longer run for office or seek any future employment with the county.
In March, the board voted to sue Inman after an investigation conducted by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office into her residency showed inconsistencies such as a Benton County address on her driver's license but vehicle registrations and property tax records associated with a Becker address in nearby Sherburne County, according to Sherburne County Sheriff's Sgt. Luke McLean.
The 2020 report also included warrant-obtained records from Verizon that show significant use of Inman's phone at the Becker residence and her place of employment in Foley, but "little to no usage" at the Sauk Rapids address between July 2019 and April 2020.
State law dictates that local office seekers maintain residence in the district from which the candidate seeks election for 30 days before the general election. Inman was elected in 2018 to a four-year term after running unopposed.
Minneapolis lawyer Scott Anderson filed a lawsuit on behalf of the county in May asking the Benton County District Court to rule Inman is not a county resident, declare the office vacant and allow the County Board to appoint a successor.
In early June, Inman responded to the lawsuit with a counterclaim that denied the allegations and claimed the county "repeatedly interfered with [her] attempt to complete her statutory duties and placed her in a position subject to legal and professional harm." The counterclaim stated the lawsuit was retaliatory and defamed Inman.
In May, Inman filed to be re-elected to another four-year term. Because three other candidates are also seeking the position, the Tuesday primary will narrow the field to two candidates who will be on the November ballot.
The settlement stipulates Inman may serve the rest of her term but will alert the public she is withdrawing from the race and, if she is listed on the November ballot and earns the highest vote count, agrees to not accept the position or take the oath of office.
Inman's attorney, Kristi Stanislawski, did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the settlement, the county and Inman will pay their own attorney costs.
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