A former Deschutes County sheriff who was banned from Oregon law enforcement last year over allegations of serial lying has been ordered to pay roughly $90,000 in OPB’s legal fees resulting from a lawsuit he waged against the media organization during the 2024 election cycle.

In a decision last week, a Deschutes County circuit court judge ruled that Kent van der Kamp must cover most of OPB’s costs to defend itself from his legal complaint to squelch records about his being fired from a California law enforcement agency. The decision brings to a close a court fight that started with a political candidate going to great lengths to keep public records about his past private.

The records van der Kamp sought to keep under wraps, which OPB first reported on before he was elected, would eventually become foundational for a state investigation that culminated in his resignation from office.

The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training investigation found he lied to Oregon officials about being fired as a reserve police officer in La Mesa, California, and was dishonest under oath about his college degrees. Van der Kamp resigned as sheriff last July, shortly before a police certification board voted to take his badge.

The attorney fees awarded to OPB last week stem from a lawsuit that, while “unreasonable and utterly pointless,” according to Deschutes County Circuit Court Pro Tem Judge Dan Bunch, still carried extremely high stakes.

“As argued by OPB, there are controversies that exceed financial concerns and get to the heart of our form of government. The court does not view this case via a financial lens. It is something more significant,” Bunch wrote in his Feb. 11 ruling on the fees.

Bunch’s ruling states it was van der Kamp, “speaking inconsistently, perhaps dishonestly, who triggered an emergent legal mess.”

Neither van der Kamp nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.

Van der Kamp sued Deschutes County, OPB and its reporter Emily Cureton Cook when he was a political candidate. In October 2024, he sought a restraining order to prevent Deschutes County from releasing records its officials had obtained during the election cycle about his early work as a reserve officer in La Mesa in the 1990s. The lawsuit also sought to stop OPB from publishing and reporting on those records. Van der Kamp dropped the lawsuit after his own attorneys accidentally released the documents in court filings.

The records detailed why police officials in La Mesa wanted to fire him for what they called “serious incidents of misconduct.” By not disclosing this to Oregon law enforcement licensing officials, van der Kamp was able to restart his career and ascend the ranks in Deschutes County.

“Those are documents that belong to the people,” said Chris Swift, a lead attorney from Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, representing OPB in the case. “Filing lawsuits against reporters and news organizations trying to do their job is not the proper approach.”

In its petition for attorney fees, OPB, which covered expenses for Cureton Cook’s representation, initially requested roughly $90,000 for hiring outside representation and around $25,000 for its in-house lawyers.

In last week’s decision, Bunch ruled that OPB was entitled only to fees covering the costs of outside representation.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/18/judge-deschutes-county-sheriff-van-der-kamp-pay-opb-lawsuit/