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Webster County Detective Resigns

By Brooke Bickford
July 27, 2023 4:14PM CDT
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A detective with the Webster County Sherriff’s Office has resigned after being on administrative leave since November.
In an email to Alpha Media News, Webster County Sherriff Luke Fleener stated that WCSO Detective Tom Steck resigned from his position effective today.
He had been on leave since an Iowa DCI investigation began in November, details of which were not released at that time.
In June, former Webster County Sherriff’s Office Detective Amy Stringer came forward alleging retaliation against her after she filed complaints against Steck, her former co-worker.

Stringer stated that three other female employees of the Fort Dodge Police Department joined her in filing complaints against Steck with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Following those complaints, Stringer claims Webster County Sherriff Luke Fleener, Chief Deputy Derek Christie and Steck “engaged in a pattern of harassment, hostility, and discrimination,” which she says forced her to resign from the department.

According to today’s email from Sherriff Fleener in regards to Steck’s resignation, in June of 2023 the WCSO received a summary report of a DCI investigation that included allegations made against Detective Steck. According to Sheriff Fleener, almost all of the allegations occurred while Steck was employed by the City of Fort Dodge and the Sherriff’s office was advised that no criminal charges would be filed against him.

“This was the first time that Chief Deputy Derek Christie and I were made of aware of what the allegations were, and identity of those involved.,” Sheriff Fleener stated. “On June 17th we began an examination of our own policies and procedures to determine if there were violations that were applicable to this summary report and to the civil rights complaint filed by Amy Stringer. On July 19th, Chief Deputy Christie and I began our Administrative Investigation by conducting an interview with Tom regarding these possible policy violations. This interview ended with us informing Tom that we were required to give him a conclusion of the investigation within 10 days, July 28th, as required by Iowa Law 80F and our own policies.”
According to Sheriff Fleener, Tom Steck submitted his resignation, effective today, and his resignation will be submitted to the Webster County Board of Supervisors. According to Sheriff Fleener, the resignation was not in lieu of termination, as the investigation was not completed.

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