A Fort Dodge, Iowa, man is looking to bring his project to place 1934 lithographs of the U.S. Constitution in courthouses to Mower County, but commissioners want to do their homework first.

“I think it’d be kind of neat to have every local county, all the veterans in the county to have kind of a fundraiser so something to make a project out of it,” Gary Stephenson told the board Tuesday.

Gary displayed a few of the lithographs and outlined his project to the board Tuesday. If given county board approval to proceed, He plans to seek sponsorships from businesses to fund the cost of the print and framing.

However, that’s where problems come in for the county board. The displays often include a plaque listing donors, and County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said county employees have expressed concern about that being a form of advertising — which is banned — on public property.

The board plans to investigate and discuss the issue further before making a decision.

County commissioners said they liked the appearance of the U.S. Constitution lithograph; however, they didn’t know where the best location would be for the public to view it, as they favored a high-traffic area in the Mower County Government Center, the Jail and Justice Center and they briefly mentioned another community buildings like the Austin Public Library.

Stephenson’s lithographs

U.S. Constitution lithographs from 1934 were discovered in a Chicago warehouse in 1987, Gary said. His father, Daniel Stephenson, began selling the lithographs in 1990.

Daniel Stephenson borrowed $15,000 in 2003 from an acquaintance in Fort Dodge to buy 200 1934 U.S. Constitution lithographs, Gary said.

Gary Stephenson said his father, who died in September 2008, had about 184 lithographs of the U.S. Constitution from 1934 donated to cities and towns for their schools, libraries, courthouses and other public places.

Daniel also sold lithographs to individuals and businesses.

Daniel sold lithographs of the 1934 lithographed U.S. Constitution to 25 Iowa courthouses prior to his death. Gary took it upon himself to furnish the lithographs for every courthouse in Iowa and has nearly completed his mission.

Gary hopes 1934 U.S. Constitution lithographs can be donated to more counties in Minnesota and, maybe one day, across the country.

He said he still has access to many more crates.

However, there has been some controversy with the lithographs. A blogger from Florida has questioned the validity of the lithographs, but Stephenson claims he’s had them validated by experts.

—The Albert Lea Tribune contributed to this report.