A complaint alleging campaign finance violations filed against Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario was dismissed last week, the sheriff’s office announced in a news release.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold made the decision on Feb. 22. It constitutes final agency action on the part of the Secretary of State’s Office.

The complaint was originally filed by David Wheeler, president of American Muckrakers PAC, Inc., on Sept. 2, 2022. American Muckrakers is a North Carolina political action committee registered with the Federal Election Commission.

Vallario, using his position and email account, was specifically accused of encouraging voters to support ultra-conservative Silt Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District and call out her opponent in last year’s primaries, Don Coram.

The sheriff’s office said the allegations were unsubstantiated and used to harass Vallario over his support of Boebert. This is supported by the Secretary of State’s findings that “while the PAC is involved in high-profile federal congressional races, it does not appear to be involved in any state-level campaigns,” the release states. 

“Except for the campaign of Sheriff Vallario, which was obviously a state-level campaign,” the release states.

The sheriff’s office also called the allegations against Vallario politically motivated and frivolous, saying Vallario “was confident that he had committed no violations” and that “he remained steadfast in his confidence that the outcome would be dismissal, as it was.”

“I’ve been an elected official for 20 years and this is not my first rodeo,” Vallario said in the release. “I am fully aware of my boundaries within the law. It is unfortunate that people from out of state do not understand, nor take the time to become educated on Colorado law.”