OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The Associated Press says in a lawsuit that a Kansas county wrongly has withheld public records involving alleged fiscal misconduct by the county’s former elections chief, who later took a top U.S. elections job.

Filed Thursday in Johnson County District Court, the lawsuit names the county’s governing board as defendants.

The AP is seeking emails under the state’s open-records law related to Brian Newby’s role as county election commissioner before he took a job in November as the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s executive director.

An audit released after Newby’s departure from Kansas uncovered alleged misuse of thousands of dollars in public funds and raised questions about his management of the office.

Newby has called the audit “inaccurate, incomplete and misleading.”

A Johnson County spokeswoman declined comment Thursday, citing the pending litigation.