Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 14:10:22 GMT -5
04/26/2006 - SMITH CENTER, Kan. - Smith County Sheriff Ellsworth Murphy is trying to stop a May recall election in which he could lose his current job for transgressions 15 years ago.
Murphy, 72, was sheriff from 1989 to 1991 but was forced to resign. He was convicted of official misconduct in office and one misdemeanor count of illegal eavesdropping for installing an electronic device at the home of then-Smith Center Police Chief Karen Bortz.
However, last summer, the Smith County Republic Central Committee picked Murphy to head the sheriff's department after Sheriff Andy Holmes resigned.
A subsequent petition drive resulted in a recall election being scheduled for May 23.
Murphy filed a petition in Smith County District Court on Friday seeking to stop the election.
His son, Kevin Murphy, an attorney in Overland Park, said a person can't be recalled for something that happened 15 years ago in an earlier term and noted that the misconduct statute was thrown out by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1994.
"He could probably get that conviction expunged," Murphy said of his father.
Smith County Attorney Allen Shelton, one of the defendants named in the Murphy's petition, said the misconduct statute does not say "misconduct in the current term of office" but simply "misconduct," which is grounds for a recall.
Shelton also said the "prior term rule" does not apply if the person continues to deny wrongdoing or is a sheriff. He pointed to a 1999 case in which the courts ruled against Sheriff David Meneley in Salina, who argued he could not be removed from office because his wrongdoing occurred during a previous term.
Shelton also said the grounds for the recall should be secondary and that if 40 percent of the voters want a recall election, they should have one.
Kevin Murphy also noted some technical problems with the petition seeking the recall. He said it had the wrong statute number and that those seeking the recall improperly added a sponsor.
Shelton said the recall petition explained the elements of the crime and was not misleading, even if the statute number was wrong.
"Let's forget the appeals and the crossing of the t's right and dotting the i's right," he said. "It was intended to be a citizen-driven initiative."
County Clerk and Election Officer Sharon Wolters, another defendant, said county officials have talked to several attorneys and the secretary state and all have said they are acting within the law.
Wolters said she will continue to prepare for the May 23 recall election unless a judge orders her to stop.
Murphy, 72, was sheriff from 1989 to 1991 but was forced to resign. He was convicted of official misconduct in office and one misdemeanor count of illegal eavesdropping for installing an electronic device at the home of then-Smith Center Police Chief Karen Bortz.
However, last summer, the Smith County Republic Central Committee picked Murphy to head the sheriff's department after Sheriff Andy Holmes resigned.
A subsequent petition drive resulted in a recall election being scheduled for May 23.
Murphy filed a petition in Smith County District Court on Friday seeking to stop the election.
His son, Kevin Murphy, an attorney in Overland Park, said a person can't be recalled for something that happened 15 years ago in an earlier term and noted that the misconduct statute was thrown out by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1994.
"He could probably get that conviction expunged," Murphy said of his father.
Smith County Attorney Allen Shelton, one of the defendants named in the Murphy's petition, said the misconduct statute does not say "misconduct in the current term of office" but simply "misconduct," which is grounds for a recall.
Shelton also said the "prior term rule" does not apply if the person continues to deny wrongdoing or is a sheriff. He pointed to a 1999 case in which the courts ruled against Sheriff David Meneley in Salina, who argued he could not be removed from office because his wrongdoing occurred during a previous term.
Shelton also said the grounds for the recall should be secondary and that if 40 percent of the voters want a recall election, they should have one.
Kevin Murphy also noted some technical problems with the petition seeking the recall. He said it had the wrong statute number and that those seeking the recall improperly added a sponsor.
Shelton said the recall petition explained the elements of the crime and was not misleading, even if the statute number was wrong.
"Let's forget the appeals and the crossing of the t's right and dotting the i's right," he said. "It was intended to be a citizen-driven initiative."
County Clerk and Election Officer Sharon Wolters, another defendant, said county officials have talked to several attorneys and the secretary state and all have said they are acting within the law.
Wolters said she will continue to prepare for the May 23 recall election unless a judge orders her to stop.