–A jury found the Chairman of the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors guilty of assault this week, following an incident with another board member back in July.
Court records show Roger Tjarks was convicted on the single count of assault, a simple misdemeanor, following a one-day trial on Tuesday.
A criminal complaint filed on August 10th states that the 76-year-old Tjarks pushed Supervisor Kyle Stecker, poked him in the chest and made verbal threats of wanting to physically harm the 26-year-old at the Kossuth County Courthouse around 9:30 AM on July 11th.
On July 11th, the board held their regular weekly meeting, beginning at 8AM. A video recording of the meeting shows that a closed session was requested around 9:20 AM by County Engineer Doug Miller, after members of the board began discussing their notes on his performance review in open session. It was during this closed session that the altercation took place. Jurors heard from witnesses for both the state and the defense, as well as an audio/video recording of the incident.
The case was prosecuted by the Winnebago County Attorney’s Office due to a potential conflict of interest for the Kossuth County Attorney.
Assault as a simple misdemeanor is punishable by up to 30-days in jail and a fine of up to $855.
