Ammon E. Bundy, the jailed leader of the national wildlife refuge takeover in eastern Oregon, is urging people to rally behind Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer as he faces state investigation.

Bundy said in a recorded statement posted Sunday to Facebook that Palmer was the only sheriff in Oregon who did not "get caught up in the deception" that occupiers put people at risk in Harney County.

The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, which certifies police officers, has asked the state Justice Department to investigate nine complaints against Palmer. Among those filing complaints were the John Day police chief and the manager of the local dispatch center, who claim Palmer's apparent alliance with militants put the community in danger.

"I encourage all people who love freedom to stand with Sheriff Palmer," Bundy said.

Palmer, 54, sheriff in the rural county of 7,430 since November 2000, said he won't comment on any matter to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Details on how Ammon Bundy, 40 of Emmett, Idaho, made the recording aren't clear, although it's likely he did it over a jail telephone. His voice recording was converted into a video posted on the Bundy Ranch Facebook page, garnering nearly 2,000 shares in two hours.

Ammon E. Bundy

Bundy and about a dozen others took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2 after a peaceful parade and rally in Burns. Once at the compound about 30 miles southeast of Burns, they demanded the release of two local ranchers facing federal prison and insisted federal land in Harney County be turned over to private interests or local control.

Eighteen days later, Palmer said that to resolve the armed standoff, federal authorities had to free the two ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and son Steven, who reported to prison two days after the occupation to finish serving five-year sentences for burning federal land. Palmer also said the FBI, which had set up a command post in Burns because the protesters seized federal property, should leave Harney County.

Palmer later twice met in John Day with some of the occupation leaders and agreed to speak at a community meeting where they were to be featured. Bundy and other occupation leaders were arrested on their way to John Day for that Jan. 26 meeting, and Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, 54, a spokesman for the occupiers, was shot and killed by state troopers as he attempted to evade arrest.

Later, Palmer referred to the arrests and shooting as an "ambush," a characterization that drew a public rebuke from the Oregon State Sheriffs' Association.

Palmer's actions triggered the complaints in February to the state police licensing agency. The state Justice Department is still considering whether to lead the investigation or leave it in the hands of the agency's regulators.

That potential investigation caught Bundy's attention. He remains at the Multnomah County jail, charged with felonies for his participation in the Oregon standoff and one in Nevada in 2014 involving his father, rancher Cliven Bundy.

Ammon Bundy said the "appalling action" by state officials investigating Palmer "have me up in the middle of the night" responding.

"Sheriff Palmer was the only sheriff in Oregon that I know of that did not allow himself to get caught up in the political deception that the people of Burns were in danger while we were at the refuge," Bundy said. "Sheriff Palmer went to the source and found the truth."

Palmer has acknowledged that he got a text message from Bundy inviting him to the refuge during the occupation, but said he didn't go at the request of Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward.

Glenn Palmer, Grant County sheriff

Bundy said Palmer understood the occupiers "stood for the Constitution." Palmer is considered a "constitutional sheriff" in part for declaring the U.S. Forest Service had limited policing jurisdiction in Grant County.

"He also found out that we were good hard working family people that love this country and would not hurt another person," Bundy said. "Because of his understanding of the Constitution and loyalty to the people and not government officials, his office is being threatened."

Bundy said government agencies now intimidate and control elected representatives "such as a sheriff through mandates, procedures and licenses."

He said agencies don't control Palmer.

"Law enforcement power in Grant County belongs to the people of Grant County," Bundy said. "Those people gave it to Sheriff Palmer and they are the only people who can take it away."

In Oregon, no one can serve as sheriff unless they are certified after meeting state-mandated training requirements. The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training can revoke any police officer's certification, but the law isn't clear on what effect a revocation would have on a sitting sheriff.

Palmer is seeking election to his fourth term. He is being challenged by his former undersheriff, Todd McKinley, now director of Grant County Community Corrections.

-- Les Zaitz

@leszaitz