Following a months-long investigation (due primarily to delays on the part of District Attorney Joseph Lucas) into conduct and testimony, Lt. Brian Needham of the Harney County Sheriff’s Office submitted his resignation on July 7, 2020.

The preliminary investigation into four different cases involving Needham started in January 2020.

On April 24, the district attorney’s (DA’s) office informed Harney County Sheriff Dan Jenkins that it was beginning a formal Brady-type investigation — referring to the Brady vs. Maryland (1963) decision which, according to the Public Agency Training Council website: “places an affirmative constitutional duty on a prosecutor to disclose exculpatory evidence to a defendant. This duty has been extended to police agencies through case law, requiring law-enforcement agencies to notify the prosecutor of any potential exculpatory information.”

Exculpatory information is information that could potentially clear a defendant from alleged fault or guilt.

On April 27, Needham was provided notification and discovery, through Jenkins, by the district attorney’s office. Needham had the option to obtain legal counsel and chose to do so. He was placed on limited duty at that time.

Sheriff Jenkins was provided with the results of the DA’s investigation on June 27, in which Lucas informed him that Needham would no longer be subpoenaed as a law-enforcement witness in criminal cases. Jenkins provided Needham with a copy of the recommendation of termination letter he had written, and placed him on paid administrative leave on the morning of June 29. Needham had the option of notifying the Harney County Court, in writing, if he wanted a Loudermill (or name-clearing) hearing before 5 p.m. July 8, 2020.

Instead of requesting the hearing, Needham submitted his resignation on July 7, and the court accepted it.

“Lt. Needham has done much good for this community in his 23-plus years of service in law enforcement. He has been an extremely valuable leader and dedicated team member of our local law-enforcement team. It is my hope that his considerable skills, knowledge, dedication, and experience are still exercised and applied in some capacity for the benefit of our community, and that he be given the opportunity to do so,” Lucas said.