To: Colorado Bureau of Investigation
690 Kipling ST. Suite 3000
Lakewood, CO 80215
From: Wayne Bryant
PO Box 3362
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Re: Privacy Act Notification
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Wayne Bryant, and I am running for Sheriff of Archuleta County. Colorado Revised Statute 30-10-501.5 states I must have my fingerprints taken for a background check to verify that I have never been convicted of a felony. I have no problem with that. The issue I have is with the Privacy Act Notification. It states “Providing your fingerprints and associated information is voluntary: however, failure to do so may affect completion of your application.” IT HAS!. I’ve been denied placement on the November ballot by the County Recorder at the behest of the County Attorney, for failure to sign this PAN.
I’ve never been convicted of any felony; not even a traffic citation for over 10 years. That’s easy enough to verify. Our driver’s license has a fingerprint verification for any law enforcement officer to verify. I did have my fingerprints taken by the Sheriff’s office in Montezuma, County on 12-02-2021 and signed by Rebecca Rquinonez. I filed a sworn affidavit on 08-04-2021 to opt out from signing the PAN, on the grounds that this violates my 4th Amendment rights. On that same day – never has anything dealing with the county happen so fast before – a letter was generated that denied my opt-out request.
On 08-11-2021 I sent a letter to Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, regarding my concerns about the PAN, stating that it isn’t voluntary. By agreeing to this, I would release “without my consent” personal information for the CBI/FBI to do with whatever they desire. I object to this “voluntary” requirement, yet non-compliance is keeping me off the ballot. So again, how is this voluntary? I never got a response back. On 09-12-2021 I sent another letter to the Secretary of State. This letter was an “Affidavit of Claim,” a lawful notification of my rights under the Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights. Again, no response.
Now, I have a question for you. Do you as state and federal agents take an “Oath of Office” to protect and defend our constitutional rights? Is this a violation of that oath?
So after months of follow-up phone calls (affected by COVID) and leaving messages, I finally got a hold of someone at the Secretary of State’s office and was informed that this is now a county issue. When I mentioned that the statute (30-10-501.5.) was a state requirement, the lady again said I needed to contact the county. I do know that the United States Supreme Court has ruled that statutes are not law, that Common Law is the law of the land. So the state passed it down to the county. On 10-23-2021 I told the County, Attorney Todd Weaver, what the state said, and he just rolled his eyes. I then made a phone call to the CBI and was told by the supervisor (I’m sure you have the recording), in so many words, that if I didn’t sign it I wouldn’t get on the ballot. That’s when I decided to get my fingerprints in Montezuma County, because frankly I can’t trust our Sheriff here in Archuleta County.
After obtaining my prints, I went before the BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) and during public comment I showed them my fingerprints. The County Attorney and Recorder saw them. I expressed my concerns about signing the Privacy Act Notification and that it violated my 4th Amendment rights. I also stated what the state said regarding how this is now a county issue. The County Attorney just read back the state statute and dismissed me, even with my fingerprints in hand. So I met with the chairman of the BOCC, Alvin Schaaf, where he passed it back to the state.
Now I need clarification from you. Is this PAN voluntary or not? Are you violating your Oath of Office by requiring this unconstitutional application?
Thank you,
Wayne Bryant
Update: May 15, 2022
I finally got my answer, after multiple letters, phone calls, appearing before BOCC, etc., a year and a half later. It’s amazing that when you challenge the Constitutionality of unconstitutional statutes, how the federal, state and local entities ignore you by not responding until forced.
On April first of this year, I got a call from CBI, Deputy Director Chris Andrist, he said I was absolutely correct that the fingerprints are voluntary; however, the FBI will not process my prints unless you sign the voluntary release. Now this is the rub, by voluntarily signing the FBI/CBI can now release my personal information to whomever they want, including foreign governments. A clear violation of their Oath’s of Office and my Fourth Amendments right to privacy.
The background check is the vehicle to this violation. I knew this would be their answer all along. I just had to get them to admit it.
That being said, I can now deny the training that these unconstitutional agencies require. Why would I and my deputies want to be trained by agencies that openly violate our constitutional rights? The Sheriff takes an oath to protect our rights. This was my plan all along. Now I have the ability to re-train our deputies and local police officers to follow our Constitution and protect our rights. Remember the slogan “To Serve and Protect?” Well it’s coming back. I will order every remaining deputy and police officer to take the training (including myself) offered by Sheriff Mack (CSPOA) or any other peace officer training course that follows our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Once I received the admission from the CBI Deputy Director, I resubmitted my fingerprints to the Archuleta County Recorder. For those of you who said, “Do you have something to hide?” No, I never did. Sad how people always jump to conclusions without thought. Now that I have fulfilled all the county and state requirements for being on the ballot for Sheriff, all that is left is to get my signatures starting Thursday, May 19 to be placed on the November ballot.
Wayne Bryant is a candidate for Archuleta County Sheriff this November.