Terry Leonard got his computers back Thursday.

The former Lake County sheriff’s deputy had his computers and other items taken from his Polson home by the Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 30, 2010.

The search warrant used to obtain the items justified the search due to “probable cause” that evidence of a crime occurred, specifically anonymous election materials and criminal defamation in regards to a heated sheriff’s race last year.

Lake County Attorney Mitch Young obtained the warrant from District Judge C.B. McNeil. The search and seizure was a local decision that the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices had nothing to do with, then-Commissioner Dennis Unsworth said at the time.

Most of the items — including computers, electronic storage devices and printed e-mails — were returned Thursday after Leonard’s attorneys contacted county offices.

Young told the Lake County Leader on Thursday that he couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation, which he said was for “violations against the election campaign laws.” But he also said the investigation should be conducted by the Commissioner of Political Practices, leaving it unclear exactly who was investigating what.

“There are no charges at this point,” Young said, and Leonard contends that “no investigation ever took place.”

Leonard caused a stir last year with a website that criticized then-Sheriff Lucky Larson and his then-Undersheriff Jay Doyle. The website, asksheriffluckylarson.com, originally was known as nojaydoyle.com.

Leonard claimed the seizure of his belongings was not about the election, and it never was, adding that he is well aware of the election campaign laws and maintains he did nothing illegal.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, and they know it,” he said in an e-mail. “It was a bullying and intimidation tactic to try and get me to stop exposing the corruption in Lake County. They didn’t call me, they didn’t interview me… they didn’t do anything. It’s a clear violation of my civil liberties.”

Leonard said he was not in Polson on Thursday, but the items were returned to his wife, Emily. Terry Leonard said he was undergoing training at a undisclosed location for the U.S. Army Reserves.

“It’s been more than inconvenient,” Emily Leonard said. “It has been emotional.”

She said the Sheriff’s Office is still holding one of seven items that were seized in the run-up to the November election, which Doyle won in a three-way race.

On Thursday afternoon, Terry Leonard said the only thing not returned was a manila file folder that contained paper documents. He doesn’t understand why they would be relevant. They include his employment records with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and some other things, he said. 

“It is somewhat fitting that Emily receive the property, as she has borne the brunt of this saga,“ he said.

In April 2010, Doyle’s secretary-treasurer Lanny Vanmeter filed a complaint against Concerned Citizens of Lake County. The complaint alleged that state law was violated because the “group” didn’t register as a campaign committee and did not file campaign finance reports.

That complaint is being investigated by the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices.

A key question is whether Lake County Concerned Citizens constituted a committee. Unsworth said last year that if more than one person is involved in a committee and the committee has conducted campaign activity, the committee is required to disclose information.

Lake County Concerned Citizens apparently didn’t do that. But Leonard said he was solely responsible for Lake County Concerned Citizens. He said the website was “not politically motivated.”

On Thursday, an employee of the Montana Office of Political Practices requested copies of advertisements run in the Lake County Leader by Concerned Citizens of Lake County, raising the possibility that an investigation is now actually under way.

Leonard, who was a reserve deputy for six years before becoming a full-time deputy in October 2009, was fired from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in February 2010, he said.

Ali Bronsdon of the Lake County Leader contributed to this story.