Facing Republican pressure to oust head of Kansas Highway Patrol, Kelly stands by him
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is standing by the embattled leader of the Kansas Highway Patrol as Republican lawmakers ramp up the pressure for her to oust Col. Herman Jones.
“You will know when I don’t,” Kelly told The Star in an interview Wednesday when asked whether she stood by the highway patrol’s leader. “I’m not one to sit around and not take action if I think action needs to be taken.”
Last week two Kansas Republican lawmakers said they planned to pursue legislation that would move the statewide law enforcement agency out of the governor’s office and into the attorney general’s office if Kelly didn’t remove Jones, the highway patrol superintendent that has led the agency since 2019.
The lawmakers pointed to a workforce shortage within the highway patrol and lawsuits filed against Jones by former employees who allege a hostile work environment, a culture of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the agency under his leadership.
In an interview with The Star Kelly said she had looked into the allegations but pointed to the results of two investigations that were done into them.
One investigation was performed by Kelly’s Department of Administration and another was performed by a law firm hired by the Kelly administration.
“We did two independent investigations into those allegations and there were no findings,” Kelly said. “It’s not that I don’t take it very seriously, I do, trust me. But there was nothing there and so I believe our justice system says innocent until proven guilty.”
She added that moving the highway patrol under the attorney general would create a conflict of interest by consolidating the state’s top investigative arm in the Kansas Bureau of Investigation alongside the state’s main patrol agency.
The move would also shift the agency from the control of a Democratic governor to a Republican attorney general. Its lead proponents are Hesston state Rep. Stephen Owens and Salina state Sen. J.R. Claeys, who worked on Kobach’s campaign.
Speaking to The Star last week, Claeys said the low staffing alone was enough to remove Jones, independent of the allegations.
But Kelly said that was an issue the highway patrol was working hard to fix, and noted workforce shortages across law enforcement.
“You can go into any state and they’re having a lot of trouble,” Kelly said, noting that recruiting for the highway patrol is particularly difficult to recruit for because new members have less choice in what part of the state they’re stationed in.
“I’ve been thinking, and I know Col. Jones has been thinking ‘how can we do things that will make it more attractive,’” she said.
This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Facing Republican pressure to oust head of Kansas Highway Patrol, Kelly stands by him."
