The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld a state council's decision to deny a former Seward County Sheriff's deputy expedited training to get his law enforcement certification in Nebraska for failing to disclose a prior arrest in Georgia and an investigation into his police certification there.
Blake Swicord has twice appealed the Nebraska Police Standards Advisory Council's decision, first asking a district judge to review it, then the appellate court when the decision was affirmed last year.
It started with a lawsuit asking a district court judge to review the council's Oct. 21, 2019, denial of his application to the reciprocity training program at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center.
The shortened training program is offered for those who have worked as law enforcement officers in other states, and Swicord has been in law enforcement for 25 years.
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But the council denied his application based on two things he failed to disclose on his personal character affidavit: that he had been arrested for battery, though never charged; and that the law enforcement license he holds in Georgia was under investigation at the time.
At the hearing, Swicord said he checked the "no" box on the question that asked if he had been arrested, charged or convicted on the advice of an Oklahoma attorney. He was arrested, but prosecutors dropped the charge for the incident involving an ex-girlfriend who later said she was the aggressor.
He said he checked "no" to questions asking about whether his professional licenses or certifications had ever been under investigation because he never considered his police certification to be a license. And he was appealing a vote there to revoke it.
The seven council members — who include police chiefs, county sheriffs and a Nebraska State Patrol lieutenant colonel — voted unanimously to uphold the director's decision to deny Swicord's admission into the reciprocity certification course.
In a written order, they said they were mindful of Swicord's dedication to the law enforcement work he performed in Georgia.
"However, when the petitioner came to Nebraska looking for a fresh start, he failed to demonstrate the necessary good character qualities demanded of any Nebraska officer. His actions in the application process demonstrate to this body that the petitioner cannot be considered to be a person who can be characterized as being truthful, honest or trustworthy."
Then came the lawsuit.Â
Last May, Hall County District Judge Ryan Carson affirmed the council's decision.
"Regardless of the outcome, the character affidavit asked whether petitioner had ever been cited or arrested for a violation of any law, and the undisputed evidence shows that the answer should have been yes," the judge wrote.
Swicord appealed again.
In an opinion Friday, Supreme Court Justice Jonathan J. Papik, writing for the court, said because Swicord's attorneys failed to include assignments of error as required by the court, justices could only look for plain error, or "error plainly evident from the record and of such a nature that to leave it uncorrected would result in damage to the integrity, reputation, or fairness of the judicial process."
They found none.
Papik said there was no dispute that Swicord's answer about not being arrested had been factually inaccurate. Swicord's attorney contended Swicord's answers hadn't been deliberate falsifications but, at most, honest mistakes.
But Papik said to find plain error, justices would have to determine that the district court's conclusion Swicord had made knowing omissions and misrepresentations wasn't supported by competent evidence.
"We do not believe that is the case," he wrote.
Swicord has continued to work at the sheriff's office as his appeal has moved through the courts. Last year, he was hired as coordinator of the Seward County Homeland Security Investigations Criminal Interdiction Task Force-West, a new position the county board approved without requiring that it be filled by a certified law enforcement officer.
Sheriff Mike Vance on Friday said he supports his former deputy and the court's ruling.
“Although disheartened by the decision, I stand behind Mr. Swicord, who is planning to apply to the full school,†he told the Journal Star.Â