Sheriff’s candidate Sgt. Jeff Ellis maintains he followed the chain of command when he and a deputy submitted a draft of a policy on illegal immigration to the county attorney’s office.

County Attorney Kristen Nelsen submitted a letter to the Herald Wednesday stating the policy violated Minnesota law and the Constitution.

However, Ellis stated Thursday the policy was a work in progress. He even said an employee in the county attorney’s office returned an edited draft back to Ellis. According to Ellis, the employee stated there were questions about the policy, but they were working to ensure all laws were followed.

“Obviously, we don’t want to violate anybody’s rights,” Ellis said.

Ellis said he was surprised when he read Nelsen’s letter. The deputy and Ellis submitted the letter to Chief Deputy Mark May, and Ellis said the policy was returned with a note saying it had to go through Sheriff Terese Amazi. The policy was submitted to Amazi, but Ellis said he doesn’t know what has happened with it since.

“Everything was done right,” Ellis said. “That’s why this email is so surprising.”