This story was updated 3 p.m. Feb. 4.

Two civil cases have been filed regarding a former relationship between two people who were both officers at the Great Falls Police Department.

A case was filed in federal court by McKenzie Lyons against GFPD Chief Jeff Newton, Officer Travis Palmer and the city.

Palmer has been with GFPD for more than 20 years and Lyons was hired as a probationary officer at GFPD in September 2020, according to court documents.

Lyons had previously been employed by Montana Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole and in that capacity first met Palmer on a work call in December 2018, according to court documents.

They became friends and in August 2020 began dating, according to court documents.

The relationship became toxic, according to court documents, and Lyons alleges that Palmer was physically and emotionally abusive and used GFPD resources to stalk her.

Her federal case claims a civil rights violation in that GFPD did not take her reports of abusive and concerns over Palmer’s behavior seriously and that she didn’t report the issues sooner for fear of losing her job.

In her suit, she alleges that Palmer showed up at a gas station where she was stopped while on patrol in October 2021 and asked Lyons to marry him.

After that incident, Lyons reported the incidents, as well as other issues regarding the relationship to her supervisor, according to the court documents.

Lyons alleges that GFPD did nothing to address or investigate the issues she reported and that a few weeks later, Palmer appeared to be following her while she was on patrol when he drove by as she was executing a traffic stop, according to court documents.

She reported that incident as well, according to court documents.

On Nov. 9, 2021, Lyons was terminated from GFPD.

Palmer is still employed at GFPD. According to court documents, the GFPD has placed additional restrictions on Palmer related to Lyons, but does not specify what those restrictions are.

Lyons argues that she was terminated for reporting the alleged abuse and that GFPD didn’t investigate or take any action against Palmer.

GFPD did conduct an internal investigation, according to court documents, and in the termination letter, Newton wrote that Lyons was found to have violated several GFPD policies.

In the letter, Newton wrote that he had received and reviewed the results of an internal investigation into allegations into Lyons’ conduct as a police officer, specifically regarding her actions involving Palmer.

According to a document filed by the lawyers for Palmer, Newton and the city and investigation was conducted by Lt. Tony Munkres, who recommended that Palmer “receive significant discipline for his policy violations.”

According to the document filed by the defense, Palmer was demoted from his position as a master patrolman to senior police officer II, removed from the fugitive task force, reassigned to patrol bureau and issued time off without pay. He was also required to engage in a mandatory accountability plan in coordination with his counselor.

The investigative report was filed under seal in the federal case, meaning it is not publicly available in that case file, but is reference in the brief filed by lawyers for Palmer, Newton and the city.

Following the filing of the federal lawsuit, the GFPD imposed additional restrictions on Palmer’s employment status, according to the brief. Those included being reassigned to the support services bureau, which is a non-enforcement administrative position.

He was “directed to have no involvement in any activities with Lyons or any members of her family, avoid any physical proximity to Lyons, have no contact with Lyons either in person, by phone, mail, text, or social media, and make no use of any GFPD official records or information systems to secure any information regarding Lyons or any member of her family. Palmer remains employed under an employment directive to not have any contact with Lyons,” according to the city’s brief.

The investigation revealed a physical altercation between Lyons and Palmer but there are differing accounts of what happened, according to Newton’s letter, which is included in the court documents.

There was another incident in May 2021, according to the letter, that was not reported to supervisors.

“There were allegations that MPO Palmer had engaged in potentially suicidal ideations and unlawful restraint. Through a series of text messages, obtained from your cell phone, to include correspondence with MPO Palmer’s sister, concern existed for MPO Palmer’s wellbeing. Despite your threats to report the behavior of MPO Palmer to a GFPD supervisor, and also to [a U.S. Marshal not in the GFPD chain of command], no reports or notifications were actually made,” Newton wrote, which constituted a violation of GFPD policy that required officer to notify supervisors of matters that may affect the welfare of the department.

In his letter terminating Lyons, Newton wrote that the internal investigation revealed other conduct on her part not based on the original complaint.

“You initiated a personal relationship with [a U.S. Marshal] knowing he and MPO Palmer worked on the same task force. This was done despite the toxic behavior and relationship between you and MPO Palmer. You apparently first became aware of and interested in [a U.S. Marshal] while assisting on-duty at the scene of a traffic stop, then later asked [the Marshal’s supervisor] for [the Marshal’s] phone number for entirely personal reasons. This behavior violates GFPD policy.”

The termination letter also states the investigation “indicated the existence of significant issues occurring outside the workplace, which are operational concerns for the organization. Although the investigation process could not fully corroborate all allegations concerning conduct and the inappropriate use of alcohol, the type of behavior clearly rose to the level of significant concern in the context of an internal departmental investigation,” Newton wrote, which was also a violation the code of ethics and oath office.

According to court documents, other GFPD supervisors asked Lyons in October and November 2021 if she wanted to pursue a criminal complaint, but she declined.

In December 2021, she filed the federal civil case.

She also filed a case in District Court asking for a restraining order against Palmer. The court granted a temporary order in December and held a hearing on the matter on Feb. 1 but hasn’t issued a new order yet.

In her complaint, Lyons argues that Palmer stalked her by sending a picture of her car in front of another man’s house.

Lawyers for GFPD argue in their court documents that Lyons had engaged in the same behavior when she sent a photo of his car in front of his ex-girlfriend’s house to Palmer and also went through his phone while he was sleeping.

They also argue that Palmer had threatened to harm himself and a friend of Lyons but not Lyons or her daughter. The defense argues that Lyons had also physically assaulted Palmer in two incidents.

“The law and the record do not support the existence of an immediate threat of irreparable injury to [Lyons]. Rather, the record establishes the couple had a toxic relationship that ended in October where both parties engaged in improper conduct,” according to court documents filed by the defense.