UPDATE: An Albion city official has reported the flag has been removed.

A flag displaying an expletive is flying on Main Street in Albion.

The flag can be seen from a nearby school bus stop on East Jefferson Street and Main Street. It is also adjacent to the Albion Municipal Library. The flag reads “F*** Biden and f*** you for voting for him,” referencing newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden.

Albion City Clerk Ranae Wonders was notified about the flag Tuesday.

“Yes, we’ve had complaints about that,” Wonders said. “We were told by the sheriff that our ordinance is out of date since Iowa has changed its laws and that sort of thing.”

Albion City Councilman Pat Hemmings said he made contact with the resident of the property to ask them to remove it. The flag came down briefly between Tuesday and Wednesday only to return to the top of its pole with the letter “C” blackened out.

“It’s a freedom of speech issue. We do have an ordinance on the books but apparently the state of Iowa changed their laws so the ordinance needs to be updated,” Hemmings said.

Mayor Eric Schmidt said issues with Albion’s nuisance ordinance have been persistent for three or four years.

“We’ve tried to file the correct stuff with the court to get this to move forward,” he said. “It’s hard to get anything in order.”

He noted any ordinance enforcement which could apply typically allows 30 days for the offending party to take corrective action.

“There is a procedure and a timeline and a way to make it all legal,” Schmidt said. “We have not allowed enough time from the initial complaint to take action.”

Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper said his department has received similar complaints but nuisance ordinance enforcement is handled by the housing department in Marshalltown.

“That came up here about a week ago,” he said. “Our legal advisor said it’s a freedom of speech, First Amendment issue and there’s nothing we can do.”

Hemmings said he is looking into the next actions the city can take.

“I’ve contacted our attorney so now it’s going to cost us money. They all pay taxes and that’s how we pay attorney fees,” he said. “It’s a shame common sense has to hide behind the First Amendment.”

Wonders said most of the complaints about the flag have focused on the swear word appearing in view of children, especially those at the nearby bus stop.

“It’s just sad they have no consideration for our youth,” Hemmings said. “We don’t let our youth say it in school. We don’t let them print it in school. You can’t print that in a newspaper but you can fly it on a flag.”

Schmidt said he would like to have a conversation with the resident but he is unsure what the next course of action will be.

“I’ve got to sit down and collect my thoughts and figure out what to do,” he said. “Even if it’s meeting him at his front door and talking to him.”

Efforts to interview the resident were not successful and city officials did not provide his name. The Marshall County Assessor’s records show the property was transferred, gifted or exchanged from the estate of Dennis Johnson to Curtis and Natalie Erickson of Ogden on Jan. 28.

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Contact Joe Fisher at 641-753-6611 or jfisher@timesrepublican.com.