Thomas County sheriff facing recall effort

A western Kansas sheriff – already under investigation to determine whether there are grounds to seek his removal from office – now is facing a separate recall petition that accuses him of a variety of misconduct, including being under the influence of alcohol and taking risks with inmates.

Thomas County Sheriff Rod Taylor wouldn’t comment Monday on the allegations in the recall petition. But Taylor, a Republican who is about to turn 73, said he doubted he would seek re-election this year.

“I’ve been doing this law enforcement for 49 years,” Taylor said by phone. He is a former longtime Kansas Highway Patrol trooper and, since 2008, has been sheriff in Thomas County, which sits two counties east of the Colorado state line in northwest Kansas. I-70 runs through it.

The Thomas County Commission has already docked Taylor’s pay. Effective Jan. 1, he receives an annual salary of $51,278, down from $57,164 last year. The commission lowered the salary because it felt the sheriff wasn’t present at times and performing his duties and shouldn’t be rewarded by taxpayers, County Commissioner Mike Baughn said Monday.

If those circulating the recall petition can gather enough valid signatures, a recall election would be held in May or June, ahead of the August primary and November general election, County Clerk Shelly Harms said Monday.

The petition, approved by the county attorney for circulation, says the sheriff has “willfully engaged in misconduct while in office and willfully neglected to perform duties.” It contains the following specific allegations.

▪ That Taylor’s civilian clothing smelled of alcohol on Oct. 6, 2014, while he transported aggravated-battery victims to a hospital in his private vehicle. The sheriff told a victim “he had just a few drinks,” the petition says. Two Colby police officers and a sheriff’s deputy witnessed the incident, it says.

▪ That the sheriff referred to a woman, who has previously been identified as a staff member, as “Ms. Cleavage,” the petition says. He told her on Aug. 24, 2015, to “hike up her skirt and go back and serve these papers” to inmates in the jail.

▪ That Taylor ordered Colby police officers to help move an inmate to an unsecured building on April 25, 2015.

▪ That he left a person who had been arrested “in his office unattended with his duty weapon accessible” on Jan. 16, 2015.

▪ That the sheriff took his wife to a sheriffs conference in 2014 without reporting training hours but charging expenses to the county.

▪ That he took an inmate to visit the inmate’s parents and buy tobacco on July 2, 2015, on the way to the Scott County Jail.

▪ That Taylor cut the seat belt on a county-owned vehicle “because he didn’t like to wear it and it kept ‘dinging.’ ”

▪ That he took almost two hours, after being dispatched, to respond to a battery in Brewster on Oct. 10, 2015. No arrest occurred.

Three Colby residents signed the petition.

In a Dec. 31 letter to the county election office, County Attorney Kevin Berens said the petition’s allegations are specific enough to justify a recall petition effort.

Those circulating the petition will have to gather a minimum of 1,560 valid signatures, and they will have 90 days from the time they gained the first signature to submit the petition to the county clerk, Harms said. She has 30 days to determine whether the signatures are valid.

If there are enough verified signatures, a recall election would be held in May or June, before the Aug. 2 primary election, she said. So far, Taylor hasn’t filed for re-election, Harms said Monday afternoon.

Baughn, the county commissioner, said Monday that he plans to ask for an update on a separate investigation into whether there are grounds to seek Taylor’s removal as sheriff.

“I just want to get it resolved one way or another for the good of the sheriff and the good of the people,” Baughn said. “It’s just dragging on way too long.”

In early November, Thomas County hired a private attorney, Allen Glendenning of Great Bend, to investigate allegations against Taylor. Glendenning said Monday he couldn’t comment.

In October, Taylor fired his undersheriff after the undersheriff submitted a detailed letter to a county commissioner accusing the sheriff of widespread wrongdoing.

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Thomas County sheriff facing recall effort."