On March 5th, in Charleston, Oregon – Defendant Murphy stated on video that “they” asked her to run; “they” referring to the Commissioners and/or former County Clerk Debbie Heller. The officials, who are obligated to follow public meetings laws, intentionally and knowingly asked Defendant Murphy to apply for the position of Interim County Clerk so that they could appoint her. Defendant Murphy’s companion who attended the Listening Session with Mrs. Murphy confirmed on video that they asked Defendant Murphy to apply for the position. Further the Commissioners asked and convinced Diris D. Murphy to run for the position. Mrs. Murphy did not apply for the position the first time it was advertised, so at the Commissioners request, the timeline to apply for Interim Clerk was extended, and the position was held open and republished, to allow for Diris D. Murphy’s application for the position to be submitted.

The decision to appoint and hire Defendant Murphy was a violation of Oregon Public Meetings laws and began the process of election law violations for the May 2022 primary election. Defendant Murphy was in fact appointed and began serving as Interim Coos County Clerk. That decision was null and should have been voided at that time however the sixty day window to file public meetings laws violation passed by. The violation of public meetings laws in appointing an elections clerk, still constitutes on of the many illegal acts that took place relating to the canvassing of the votes in the May 2022 Coos County primary election.