Thomas County sheriff accused of widespread wrongdoing; he denies allegations

Correction: Mike Baughn is a Thomas County commissioner. His name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.

Anyone taking I-70 through northwest Kansas must travel across the plains of Thomas County. And right now it’s a place of turmoil, current and former officials say.

The source is Sheriff Rod Taylor, who is accused of widespread wrongdoing, County Commissioner Mike Baughn said. The sheriff’s actions and the turmoil they have caused are putting public safety at risk, Baughn said.

Last Friday, Taylor fired Undersheriff Marc Finley. The termination came after Finley gave an eight-page letter to Baughn, accusing the sheriff of driving under the influence and smelling of alcohol while on duty – including when transporting a victim or a juvenile.

The detailed letter – which Finley said is based on complaints he received – also alleges that the sheriff has said sexually harassing things to female staffers and has threatened inmates in his jail with a broom handle, a shotgun, duct tape and a noose.

Taylor denied the allegations Tuesday.

Baughn, a former sheriff who was defeated by Taylor in the 2008 Republican primary, said concerns raised by the letter prompted him to ask the county attorney to investigate and determine whether there is enough to trigger the process to oust Taylor as sheriff.

Ron Alexander, police chief in the county seat of Colby, said Monday: “I do have concerns about the level and quality of service that our citizens within the county are receiving from the sheriff.”

Alexander said he couldn’t comment more because some of the concerns involve personnel issues or potential investigation.

County Attorney Kevin Berens said he couldn’t comment on the letter because the matter is pending. Jennifer Rapp, spokeswoman for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, said Tuesday that the office was contacted by the Thomas County attorney “about a possible ouster but we declined for lack of evidence at this time and referred the matter back to the county attorney.”

Taylor said early Tuesday that he hadn’t seen the letter detailing the allegations against him but hoped that the county attorney would advise him.

After The Eagle faxed Taylor a copy of the letter, he said: “I can’t find anything in there that I would say is true; either that or it’s completely out of context.”

Taylor said of Finley, his former undersheriff who submitted the letter: “He wants to be sheriff really bad. … I definitely know he’s got a motive in this.”

Taylor said he probably will not seek re-election next year, citing his age – 72. He is a former longtime Kansas Highway trooper and has been sheriff since 2008. He receives an annual salary of $57,164.

“I have not resigned or anything else,” he said. “To say it’s the easiest time, no, it isn’t.”

County Clerk Shelly Harms provided The Eagle a copy of the letter, saying it became a public document once it was left on the County Commission’s table and was made available to the public.

‘Erratic behavior’

The letter said law enforcement agencies prefer that Taylor not be dispatched to incidents because of “his erratic behavior, lack of judgment and occasionally the odor of alcohol on his breath. Several dispatchers refuse to call Sheriff Taylor out and only notify Sheriff Taylor after the call has been handled,” says the letter signed and submitted by the undersheriff weeks ago.

Taylor repeatedly damaged sheriff’s vehicles and private vehicles, the letter said. One example: In the spring of 2012, Taylor backed a patrol vehicle into a vehicle in the county impound lot and then while backing up hit an enclosed trailer and a parked SUV.

“Sheriff Taylor was operating the patrol vehicle while under the influence of prescription pain pills and other medication,” the letter said.

Another time, Colby police and a sheriff’s deputy were handling an aggravated battery call involving a firearm when “Sheriff Taylor arrived in his personal vehicle in civilian clothing, smelling of alcohol,” the letter said.

Taylor transported the victim to the hospital in his personal vehicle, “under the influence,” the letter said.

Another time, Taylor and a deputy took a juvenile to a Garden City facility, and the deputy “could smell alcohol on Sheriff Taylor’s breath.” When leaving the juvenile facility, Taylor backed into a parked vehicle, told the deputy there wasn’t damage, never got out of the vehicle to check, and nothing was reported to the insurance carrier, the letter said.

Sexual harassment allegations

Among the allegations of sexual harassment, according to the letter: Taylor “on multiple occasions” requested that a female staff member “supply his alcohol by running to the liquor store” and that “Sheriff Taylor, under the influence, would call her and asks her to come to his house to engage in sex.” Last year, the woman “quit without notice,” the letter says.

The letter describes an incident on Aug. 24 in which another female staffer was handing warrants to a deputy so they could be delivered to inmates in the jail. The sheriff told the woman to “just hike that skirt up and go back there in the jail and serve those papers,” the letter said.

The deputy said the sheriff said he was trying to make a joke, but the woman said the “remarks are uncalled for and make her feel very uncomfortable,” to the point where she “doesn’t want to be in a room with Sheriff Taylor alone,” it said.

Taylor referred to the staffer as “Ms. Cleavage,” the letter said.

Inmate treatment

The letter also describes threats of force against inmates at the jail under the sheriff’s control.

On July 16, after an inmate threw his food onto the floor and refused to clean it up, “Sheriff Taylor threatened (the inmate) … that he would ‘shove a broom handle up his …’,” the letter said.

In 2014, while in a “yelling match” with an inmate, “Sheriff Taylor threatened to bring his shotgun back into the jail and ‘take care of the inmate,’ ” it said.

And on April 25, after an inmate was yelling and banging on his cell door, Taylor sent a deputy to Wal-Mart to buy duct tape. Taylor was going to tape the inmate to a chair and take him to an unsecured building so he wouldn’t disrupt others, the letter said. A Colby police officer refused to help Taylor with any taping, and “Colby Police Chief Alexander confronted Sheriff Taylor” and put the inmate back into the jail, it said.

“Sheriff Taylor threatened (the inmate) with a noose,” and the inmate complained about the threat to a judge, it said.

Other times, Taylor has been careless with guns around inmates or staff, the letter said: Several times, Taylor’s firearm has fallen out in the dispatch area and in the jail, and he has a habit of leaving his firearm in his vest and misplacing or forgetting where he leaves his vest, it said.

Public safety

On Monday, Finley said he vetted and documented the information he compiled in the letter, adding, “I had to do something; I couldn’t just keep letting this thing go on.”

Finley said Taylor left him a voice message Friday saying he was fired.

Baughn, the county commissioner, spent about 38 years with the Sheriff’s Office, including as sheriff. He said he forwarded Finley’s letter to the county attorney because the sheriff’s actions and the turmoil they have caused in the Sheriff’s Office are putting public safety at risk.

“I have no personal animosity against Rod (Taylor) at all,” Baughn said. He said he has no interest in running for sheriff again.

Now that the undersheriff has been fired and a deputy has resigned amidst the turmoil, “I’m concerned about law enforcement coverage in the county,” Baughn said.

Lance Goodman, who had been a deputy since 2010, said he resigned Tuesday morning. He said he has seen Finley’s letter and it is accurate.

“And I anticipate further people resigning,” Goodman said.

Baughn said, “I have that feeling, too.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 8:06 PM with the headline "Thomas County sheriff accused of widespread wrongdoing; he denies allegations."