Wife of county commissioner gets diversion in electioneering case, DA’s Office says
This story has been updated with some details about Meghan Blubaugh’s diversion.
The wife of Sedgwick County commissioner Jeff Blubaugh has been placed on diversion for six months in a misdemeanor electioneering case after she wore a campaign T-shirt supporting her husband at an early voting site.
A photo sent to The Eagle shows Meghan Blubaugh wearing the shirt and her husband in line next to her at Evangel Presbyterian Church in west Wichita on Oct. 29. The photo shows Blubaugh from behind wearing the shirt, which says “Jeff Blubaugh” on the back. Her husband was a candidate for Sedgwick County Commissioner at the time.
Kansas statute prohibits voters at polling sites from wearing clothing that clearly identifies a candidate.
Blubaugh was placed on diversion Thursday after making her first appearance in Sedgwick County District Court on the charge, Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dan Dillon said by email.
A court order granting her diversion, filed Friday morning, says that prosecutors have agreed to defer prosecution of the electioneering charge for six months and that Blubaugh voluntarily consented to the arrangement. It also says she must pay $160 in court costs “in addition to other costs owed,” but gives no other specifics.
What conditions Blubaugh will be required to follow were not included in the two-page order.
More details about Blubaugh’s diversion agreement with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office were not immediately available. Such agreements usually should contain information about what led prosecutors to file criminal charges and what rules a defendant must follow to have their case dismissed.
No lawyer was listed for Blubaugh in the case file Thursday morning, although that information often appears after a defendant makes a first appearance in court.
The DA’s Office announced in November that it had charged Blubaugh with one misdemeanor count of electioneering at a polling place over the Oct. 29 incident. She made her first appearance in court in the case around 9 a.m. Thursday, about an hour before her hearing was scheduled, Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dan Dillon said by email. She “arrived early to the Sedgwick County Courthouse” and was allowed to make her first appearance then, Dillon said.
She filled out an application for diversion at the hearing that “was approved and signed by the court,” Dillon said.
Blubaugh’s husband, former Wichita City Councilman Jeff Blubaugh, defeated incumbent Sedgwick County Commissioner Sarah Lopez for the District 2 seat in November. He was sworn in earlier this month.
Contributing: Kylie Cameron and Dion Lefler of The Eagle
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 10:39 AM.
