MADISON COUNTY, Iowa — The criminal case against Amanda Kay DeVos, the former Treasurer of Madison County, is headed for trial next week, and her attorney has filed a motion asking the court to block prosecutors from bringing up two specific topics.
DeVos, 38, is facing four criminal charges, including Felonious Misconduct in Office, Tampering with Records, Fraudulent Practice in the Third Degree, and Third-Degree Theft.
She was arrested nearly a year ago for allegedly using her access as county treasurer to alter government records to make it look like she paid for her vehicle registration plates when she had not. Investigators later announced she was under suspicion for an entirely different criminal scenario, allegedly involving her property taxes.
The jury trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Dec. 16 in Boone County, where it was transferred after her attorney successfully argued for a change of venue.
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On Friday, her attorney filed a motion asking a judge to bar specific evidence from being included in the trial, which includes mention of DeVos’ “payment of real estate taxes and resulting returns of checks for insufficient funds,” states the filing. The motion argues this information was not included in the case’s Minutes of Testimony and would be more prejudicial than relevant. The motion also asks that any reference to her resignation form from the Madison County Treasurer’s Office be barred, calling it irrelevant to the case.
The Motion in Limine filed on Dec. 5 by Amanda DeVos’ legal team.
A hearing for the motion has been scheduled and will take place on Friday, Dec. 12.
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DeVos allegedly refused to resign from her position after her arrest and continued to collect her paycheck and benefits for months. The county attorney said he was forced to file a legal petition to remove her from office before she issued her resignation. In her resignation letter, DeVos admitted “no wrongdoing.”
The resignation letter Amanda DeVos provided to Madison County came roughly six months after her arrest on criminal charges connected to her time in office.
In the aftermath of her arrest, WHO 13 uncovered a series of alleged financial issues within the county that appeared to stem from mismanagement of funds. The City of Winterset, which serves as the county seat, confirmed hundreds of thousands of dollars that were erroneously deposited into its account by the Treasurer’s office during DeVos’s term. Around the same time, one local school district told WHO 13 that it was forced to withdraw investment funds to cover payroll after distributions from the Treasurer’s office were late. DeVos has not been criminally charged in connection with these issues…