Iowa Judicial Branch Building
DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa politician who showed up to a meeting intoxicated and was subsequently removed from office has lost his argument for reinstatement before the Iowa Supreme Court.
Justices on Oct. 2 ruled against Scott Belt, formerly the chair of the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors. He lost his job following a November 2025 town hall meeting he had agreed to emcee.
But he pre-gamed at a local bar, leading attendees of the meeting to notice the smell of alcohol and slurred speech. The incident was covered by local news outlets, in which Belt blamed his behavior on medication he was taking following recent procedures.
But the county attorney filed a petition to remove Belt from his post, alleging five other instances that he was intoxicated on the job, including at a National Association of Counties conference in D.C. during which Belt allegedly had two double-shots of Bailey’s Irish Cream in his coffee at breakfast before attending classes.
The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed his removal under state law, noting the State was not required to connect Belt’s drinking to the exercise of an official duty.
“(W)e agree with the district court that he was acting in his official capacity while he was intoxicated at the town hall. This is an aggravating factor for Belt,” Chief Justice Susan Christensen wrote.
“And though the district court concluded that the State failed to prove its four additional allegations of intoxication by ‘clear, convincing, satisfactory’ evidence, the unrebutted testimony from the witnesses regarding these allegations indicates to us that Belt’s intoxication at the town hall was not an isolated event.”
The town hall was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. but an hour before, Belt stopped at The Bar’N and Grill in Carson, ordered a Budweiser and sat next to the mayor, who testified Belt seemed to have already been drinking “based on his speech and actions.”
He massaged the mayor’s shoulders, stood on a sign that said “DO NOT F---ING STAND HERE” and ordered a vodka cocktail at 5:55 p.m. One customer upset with his overly friendly nature complained to the bar owner, and Belt asked for a to-go cup for his vodka drink around 6:14.
The county PR manager said Belt was speaking loudly and she could smell alcohol on his breath.
“He began the meeting by leading the Pledge of Allegiance before launching into an incoherent speech to introduce a moment of silence,” Christensen wrote. A local reporter captured parts of the opening remarks on video.
The moment of silence ended when Belt dropped his microphone. He rubbed a presenter’s back, and county officials began forming a plan to remove him from the meeting, leading Belt to call one of them a “jackoff.” Eventually, he was driven home.
