VINTON, Iowa - The Benton County Attorney said Patrick Lyons, 49, could legally vote in elections today. But he couldn’t in 2004, 2005 and part of 2006. And it’s what he allegedly did in those years that resulted in six felony charges filed against the former president of the Vinton-Shellsburg School District on Monday.

Vinton Police filed charges against Lyons following a report of voter fraud activity several weeks earlier. He’s accused of voting in a city election in 2004 and school elections in 2004 and 2005 when he was a convicted felon who had not had his citizenship rights restored. Lyons was charged with three counts of Perjury of Statement in connection with voter registration and three counts of Election Misconduct.

Each is a class “D” felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Benton County authorities discovered Lyons was convicted of First Degree Theft in Polk County in 1996 and sentenced to probation and ordered to make $181,809 in restitution plus interest to a former employer. He did that by 2006 and automatically received the right to vote or hold office under an executive order signed by former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. But prosecutors said the charges all pertain to what Lyons allegedly did before he got his voting rights back.

Lyons was not at home or at his office in Vinton on Tuesday. But his next-door neighbors, Roy and Martha Lundberg did speak up for him and expressed real surprise at the criminal charges.

Roy Lundberg said “you couldn’t ask for a better neighbor—he would volunteer to help us do anything.”

Martha Lundberg added “I guess it was a shock because…in fact, I wanted it to be rerun (on the TV news) so I could see it again.”

The Lundbergs echoed what a lot of people around Vinton said—Patrick Lyons was well known for his community involvement. That involvement with the Vinton-Shellsburg School District apparently began when he helped lead the final, successful bond vote campaign to build a new high school in Vinton. Some in the community believe those also involved in that campaign are the ones who urged Lyons to run for a school board seat.

Lyons submitted his school board resignation after his arrest Monday. Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock said Lyons was a very strong board leader who always put kids first. The district is not sure if there are legal issues with his voting during the fraud allegation years. The board’s attorney is looking into that question.

Hainstock said “our secretary is going back to review board minutes to see if there were 4-3 votes in which Mr. Lyons was one of the four votes. I do not anticipate we will find many, if any.”

In addition to his school board seat, Lyons also resigned his volunteer position on the board of Vinton Unlimited, the economic development organization. Director Nathan Hesson said Lyons had only joined the board in January. “Yeah, I was surprised at the allegations,” Hesson said adding “as far as I know he was a great guy.”

The Benton County Auditor’s office did not have paperwork on file from Lyons’ run for office. The candidate affidavits for school board votes are discarded after six months. However, there are three voter registration forms he signed in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Lyons signed the forms which warn those convicted of a felony, and not having that felony conviction discharged, they are not eligible to vote.

The Iowa State Auditor’s office did not begin to cross-match voter registrations with lists of barred felons until 2006. The state office does such checking on a monthly basis, but the form checked from 2008 would have occurred after Lyons’ voting rights were restored.

Benton County Attorney Dave Thompson said the county has “had issues before with allegations that people weren’t eligible to vote but never anything like this (with an elected official).” Thompson wouldn’t say if Lyons had told police investigators he knew he couldn’t vote or hold office saying “that’s something I can’t get into because as we know Mr. Lyons is innocent until proven guilty.”

Lyons was released from the Benton County Jail Monday on $5,000 bond.