Kansas lawmaker pleads no contest in DUI case, could serve jail time

TOPEKA (KSNT) - A Kansas lawmaker entered a plea of no contest in late September after being charged with driving under the influence and other crimes following his arrest earlier this year.

Kansas Representative Carl Maughan, a Republican representative from Colwich for District 90, pleaded no contest on Sept. 27 to one charge of driving under the influence, according to documents from the Shawnee County District Court. The court dismissed three other charges against him, including minor traffic infractions and possession of a firearm while under influence of alcohol or drugs.

Court documents show Maughan faces a possible fine of $750 and up to three months in jail for driving under the influence. He may also serve up to six months of unsupervised probation.

Maughan was arrested in March 2024 in Shawnee County while the legislature was in session in Topeka. He quickly stepped down from a legislative committee, later issuing a statement to Nexstar's Kansas Capitol Bureau saying he "exercised poor judgement."

The court later charged Maughan in May 2024 with two misdemeanors and two traffic infractions in connection to his March arrest. The Kansas Supreme Court also barred him from practicing law for at least a year in June 2024 for mishandling conflicts of interest in a 2016 murder case.

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