Kansas sheriff declines criminal investigation of Governor

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Shawnee County Sheriff, Brian Hill, will not be pursuing a criminal investigation of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, following a complaint filed by a Republican group earlier this year.

In June, The Republican Governors Association, RGA, asked a local prosecutor and sheriff to investigate Gov. Laura Kelly, D-Kan., for criminal use of taxpayer resources.

In a statement on Thursday, Todd Stallbaumer, spokesperson for the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office, confirmed that they will not act on the criminal referral from the RGA at this time.

“After a preliminary review of this matter, it has been determined that no criminal investigation will occur at this time. However, should additional information come to light, the matter will be re-examined by our Investigations Division”

Todd Stallbaumer, Shawnee County Sheriff's Administrative Division

The RGA delivered a criminal referral to the Shawnee County District Attorney, Michael Kagay, and the Shawnee County Sheriff, Brian Hill, accusing Kelly of criminal use of taxpayer resources to aide in her re-election campaign. Both Kagay and Hill are Republicans.

The group said that the criminal referral comes from actions taken by Kelly and her staff earlier this year in May. These actions are believed by the RGA to have violated Kansas’ public integrity laws such as K.S.A. 75-2953(a). This type of violation is a Class C misdemeanor.

According to the group, Kelly’s campaign tried to have an RGA Kansas 2022 PAC ad taken off the air. Kelly’s campaign sent a letter to TV stations. The group says they received a letter from a lawyer which included a memo from Kansas Department of Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard, which has since resulted in an ethics complaint being filed by the RGA.

Kelly’s campaign spokeswoman said the allegations are part of an ethics complaint that was dropped, prior to the referral being filed.