TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ governor nominated a new judge Tuesday to the state’s second-highest court, despite a lawsuit over whether she has the authority to fill the vacancy after withdrawing her first nominee over his past political tweets.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly announced that she is submitting Kansas City-area attorney Sarah Warner’s name to the Republican-controlled state Senate for a Kansas Court of Appeals seat. However, the Senate’s top GOP leader said the chamber would not consider the nomination until the legal dispute over it is resolved by the state Supreme Court.

Kelly was forced in March to withdraw her first nominee, Labette County District Judge Jeffry Jack, because of tweets in 2017 using vulgar language and criticizing President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

 

It appears as if @GovLauraKelly is attempting to circumvent the law by making a new appointment to the Court of Appeals a week before the Supreme Court is set to hear the case regarding the proper appointing authority. #ksleg https://t.co/AOCxVyoRIx

— Susan Wagle (@SenatorWagle) April 30, 2019

Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, contends that under a 2013 law, Kelly missed the deadline for making a proper nomination and the choice now falls to Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss. Kelly disagrees because the law allows a governor to make another choice if a nomination fails.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, has said the law is unclear. He filed a petition last week asking the Supreme Court to resolve the issue, and the high court plans to hear arguments May 9. Nuss has removed himself from hearing it.

“While Gov. Kelly may think she is above the law and does not need to follow proper statute, she is not,” Wagle said in a statement pledging to hold off on considering the appointment.

Lawmakers reconvene Wednesday after a spring break to wrap up their business for the year. Kelly and Schmidt have argued that lawmakers should clarify the appointments law, which does not specify what happens when a Court of Appeals nominee withdraws.

“I remain ready and willing to work with the Legislature to pass a simple, straightforward legislative fix, Kelly said.

Warner worked for Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Davis for several years before joining a Lawrence law firm in 2009 and becoming a partner in 2014. While with that firm, she helped Kansas defend special health and safety regulations for abortion providers that have on hold since 2011 because of a lawsuit.

Warner also was one of the attorneys representing the state in the case in which the Supreme Court ruled last week that the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights.

Kelly called Warner “one of the brightest lawyers in our state” and said Warner has “a wealth of experience and energy.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House has passed a proposal to undo and replace the redistricting process enacted by voters in November.

House members voted 108-46 Monday to send a new plan to redraw legislative districts to the Senate for consideration.

If passed by the Legislature, the measure would be subject to voter approval.

Voters last year passed the “Clean Missouri” constitutional amendment . That measure created a new position of nonpartisan demographer to draft state House and Senate maps after the 2020 Census with a goal of achieving “partisan fairness” and “competitiveness.”

The House proposal would instead have bipartisan panels redraw districts, as was done previously. It would make “partisan fairness” and “competitiveness” secondary to other factors, such as districts being compact and not disenfranchising minority voters.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker has resigned under pressure after an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint found he engaged in “ethical misconduct” by sending flirtatious text messages and repeatedly pursuing a relationship with a legislative employee whom he supervised.

Democratic Rep. DaRon McGee, of Kansas City, submitted his resignation late Monday. It was printed in the House Journal, which was publicly available Tuesday, along with an investigatory report from the House Ethics Committee detailing the allegations against him and recommending a series of punishments.

Reached by phone Tuesday by The Associated Press, McGee said: “I’m not making any comment.” He referred questions to an attorney, who did not immediately respond to a message.

McGee is the latest of at least three dozen state lawmakers across the country who have resigned or been expelled from office since 2017 following allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment. Dozens of additional accused lawmakers have faced other repercussions, such as the loss of legislative leadership positions or committee assignments.

Most of those allegations against lawmakers were made public after October 2017, when claims of sexual misconduct against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement. Many state legislatures have responded by updating their sexual harassment policies.

The Missouri House updated its sexual harassment policies in 2015 after then-Speaker John Diehl Jr. resigned after acknowledging he had exchanged sexually suggestive text messages with a House intern. The case against McGee also involved text messages.

The House committee said it subpoenaed electronic communications between McGee and the employee and received a series of text messages between 2017 and 2018, including several instigated by McGee that were “flirtatious in nature and gave the appearance” he was “attempting to establish an amorous relationship.”

The report said McGee made repeated communications over the course of at least 10 months that were not welcomed by the employee and then took actions which resulted in the termination of the person’s employment. The committee also said McGee “repeatedly delayed and obstructed” its proceedings, which began after it received a report about his conduct on Jan. 7.

The House Journal indicates McGee initially submitted a resignation letter to the House speaker at 6:55 p.m. Monday saying that he had accepted employment in Kansas City that would cause him to return full-time to his district. The letter said he was resigning effective Thursday.

Immediately beneath that letter was printed the House Ethics Committee report recommending that McGee be censured because of his conduct toward the employee, be removed from all committee assignments, resign as assistant minority leader and pay $7,408 of restitution to the House for the investigation against him. If McGee remained in office, the committee recommended that he be subject to expulsion if he didn’t comply with the other sanctions or if another sexual harassment complaint was brought against him.

The journal then contains a second resignation letter from McGee, submitted at 7:45 p.m. Monday, saying he was resigning immediately. That letter also cited a full-time job in Kansas City while making no mention of the investigation against him.

McGee declined to comment to the AP about the job cited in his resignation letter.

Republican House Speaker Elijah Haahr issued a statement Tuesday describing McGee’s behavior as “inexcusable” and adding that he had “broken the trust placed in him” and abused his position.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Democrat, said McGee wasn’t worthy of remaining in public office.

“By holding our colleagues accountable for their actions, we can begin to change the culture of an institution where behavior such as this has been tolerated for far too long,” Quade said Tuesday in a written statement.

Earlier in April, the House Ethics Committee found that Republican state Rep. Rocky Miller had engaged in “unbecoming” conduct by creating a false rumor that another lawmaker was having an affair with a House employee. An outside investigation concluded that Miller’s actions weren’t severe or pervasive enough to qualify as sexual harassment under federal or state law but may have violated the House’s sexual harassment policy. The ethics panel did not recommend any further action against Miller.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will host its first state-sanctioned high school wrestling tournament for girls only next year.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association board voted Friday to add girls wrestling to its competitions.

The association’s executive director, Bill Faflick, says the first girls state wrestling tournament will be held in Salina on Feb. 27, 2020.

High school girls are already allowed to wrestle, but they’ve had to join boys’ teams. More than 375 high school girls wrestled on boys’ teams across Kansas this winter.

The change means that boys and girls will still meet during the regular season, but they must participate in their respective regional and state tournaments.

Faflick says they hope the decision leads to more female participation in high school wrestling across Kansas.

RICE COUNTY –  The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) announced that the standoff with a suspect who shot the Rice County Sheriff and Undersheriff Monday evening ended just after midnight on Tuesday morning.

According to a media release from the KBI, at approximately 12:10 a.m., authorities located the body of David L. Madden inside the residence at 490 Avenue S. in Raymond, Kan. Also, found deceased in the home was Thomas T. Madden, 65, the father of the suspect, and owner of the home where the standoff occurred. No threat to the public exists any longer as a result of these shootings.

The investigation suggests that when Madden shot the Undersheriff, a female and a child accompanied him in the vehicle. Madden then fled the area and drove to his residence in Alden to retrieve guns and ammunition. He then went to his father’s home, where it is believed he fatally shot Thomas Madden prior to the Sheriff and deputy arriving. Then it is believed the female left the scene. A short time later, when the Sheriff arrived, which was at approximately 5:40 p.m., he was fired upon and shot in the leg.

After the Sheriff was shot, Madden exchanged gunfire with additional responding law enforcement officers. Over the next several hours the Kansas Highway Patrol’s Special Response Team, and the KBI, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, the Reno County Sheriff’s Office, the Wichita Police Department, the Rice County Sheriff’s Office, the Sterling Police Department, the Lyons Police Department, and many other area law enforcement agencies, attempted to safely determine the suspect’s location in the home.

They first located the body of Thomas Madden. Then, at approximately 12:10 a.m., authorities located the body of David Madden, which ended the standoff. It is suspected that David Madden died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

KBI agents and the Crime Scene Response Team remain in Rice County interviewing witnesses, and assisting the Rice County Sheriff’s Office in processing multiple crime scenes.

The condition of the Undersheriff remains critical but stable, and the Sheriff was released from the hospital.

David Madden was a suspect in the 2015 disappearance of Megan Foglesong, and was also indicted last week on federal firearms charges.

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STERLING, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a shooting that wounded a Kansas sheriff and undersheriff (all times local):

7:25 a.m.

Authorities have found two bodies in a Kansas home after a standoff that followed the shooting of a sheriff and undersheriff.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that the Rice County undersheriff was shot and critically wounded around 5 p.m. Monday after attempting to stop a car north of the small town of Sterling, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Wichita.

The release says the sheriff and a deputy then pursued the suspect to a home in a nearby town, where the sheriff was shot in the leg in an exchange of gunfire.

A KBI official said at the scene early Tuesday that two men’s bodies were found at the home after a standoff. Authorities haven’t released their identities, but the bureau says there is no risk to the community.

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RICE COUNTY – The Rice County Sheriff Bryant Evans and Undersheriff  Chad Murphy were shot at separate locations in Rice County, on Monday evening. Agents of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) responded to investigate the shootings, and assist in attempts to apprehend the suspect.

Preliminary information indicates that at approximately 5:10 p.m. Monday, Rice County Undersheriff Murphy attempted a car stop near the Sonic Restaurant, just north of the Sterling city limits. The car stop was related to a warrant for the vehicle’s occupant, David L. Madden, 37, of Alden.

Within approximately thirty seconds of initiating the car stop, the Undersheriff radioed to dispatch that he had been shot. EMS responded, and he was flown to a Wichita hospital. Murphy is being treated for four gunshot wounds, and is currently in critical, but stable condition.

Following the shooting of the Undersheriff, Rice County Sheriff Bryant Evans learned information that Madden likely fled to a residence in rural Rice County, southeast of Raymond. He and another sheriff’s deputy arrived at the residence and encountered Madden. Gunshots were exchanged, and one round struck the Sheriff in the leg.

The Sheriff and deputy called for assistance and additional law enforcement agencies responded. Authorities were able to surround the home, and establish a perimeter.

The Sheriff was taken to a hospital in Lyons, Kan., and was then transported to a Wichita hospital. The Sheriff is currently in good condition.

With multiple law enforcement agencies on scene, the standoff at the residence in Rice County ended early Tuesday, according to the KBI.

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RICE COUNTY— The Kansas Bureau of Investigation respond  to the city Sterling in Rice County late Monday afternoon, according to a statement of the Bureau.

Two law enforcement officers from the Rice County Sheriffs Office have been shot.

According to the KBI, the two officers wounded in Sterling are Rice County Sheriff Bryant Evans and the Rice County Undersheriff Chad Murphy.

The suspect is 37-year-old David L. Madden.

We are trying to confirm their conditions but the situation is still very fluid currently. Information is still pending on the status of the suspect, according to Melissa Underwood with the KBI.

Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

PAOLA, Kan. (AP) — The National Weather Service says a tornado near the eastern Kansas town of Paola was a small one, but it was still enough to cause damage.

The twister with winds estimated at 80 mph to 85 mph was reported at 4:10 a.m. Monday just south of Paola. Jason Leighton of the National Weather Service says it was an EF-0, 15 yards wide, and lasted three minutes.

The tornado damaged the roof of Trinity Lutheran Church and toppled headstones in a nearby cemetery. It also bent a flag pole. No injuries were reported.

 

The twister was the first one of the year reported in the weather service’s Kansas City region. Paola is a town of 5,600 residents 45 miles southwest of Kansas City.

TOPEKA— The Kansas Department of Corrections is investigating whether illegal drugs played a role in four recent inmate deaths at three state correctional facilities.

Since Friday, April 26, two Hutchinson Correctional Facility inmates, one Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility inmate and one El Dorado Correctional Facility inmate have died. The cause of death in each case is pending autopsy results, according to a media release.

Ethen Thornton died Friday morning at an area hospital. He had been housed at Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

On Monday, Jeremy Waller died at Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

Quinn Martin died Friday afternoon at an area hospital. He had been housed at Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility.

Kendrick Gracey died Saturday night at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the investigation.