A Montgomery County jury found the 36-year-old Red Oak resident not guilty Thursday of first-degree election misconduct, a Class D felony tied to his work counting absentee ballots on Election Day 2024. The charge, filed in July 2026, alleged he willfully performed his duties in a way that hindered the fair, orderly, and efficient counting of those ballots. After two days of testimony and nearly three and a half hours of deliberation, jurors said he did not.
The visit was his first live conversation since the verdict. He spent the morning with family — cousins, college friends, and others who had filled the Montgomery County Courthouse — then came by the station before taking the rest of the day off.
Asked what carried him from July to Thursday, Norris did not hesitate.
“I think I’m one of the most fortunate people on the planet, just for my family alone,” he said. “My family means everything to me.”
The support did not stop at the courtroom door. His phone buzzed through the interview with messages from around southwest Iowa — smiles and waves on the street, people who sat in the audience, donations that helped cover a legal bill he said is not finished yet.
“Anybody listening out there that has supported me along the way, I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “I couldn’t have gone through this without other people doing that for me.”
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