Under persistent questioning at a Republican meeting Monday, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe repeated that he was unaware of any search warrant being issued for past election ballots, a direct contradiction to what Sheriff Calvin Hayden said last week.
Howe, who appeared with primary challenger David Greenwald at a meeting of the Northeast Johnson County Conservatives, replied to an attendee that he and Hayden consulted with each other and have a good working relationship. But he said he was uncomfortable talking publicly about an ongoing investigation.
He said that he did not know the ballots were about to be destroyed at the time when the county commission earlier this year approved the move, in compliance with a state law.
“My answer to you is the same as I told the media before, which is I was unaware of any affidavit [for a warrant] being presented to a judge,” he said.
On Monday, Howe was asked at least four times by the questioner whether he had issued a search warrant for the ballots from 2019, 2020 and 2021. State law requires the destruction of old ballots, but Hayden and Attorney General Kris Kobach had urged county election officials not to follow through, citing Hayden’s long-running investigation. Search warrants are issued by the court.
The sheriff said he had ” a search warrant in hand”
Monday’s question to Howe appeared related to a statement Hayden made at a Republican gathering a week ago.
In a candidate forum put on by the Johnson County Republican Party, Hayden said: “As we stand here today, we had a search warrant in hand and had talked with the district attorney and we were working on getting the documents needed when they decided in a hurry to destroy the records.”
Hayden has spoken often at political gatherings about his investigation of the county’s election process but has referred only one incident, alleging voter intimidation, to the district attorney’s office. However, Howe did not pursue any charges in that instance, citing a lack of evidence.
Election fraud was a hot topic at the DA event
Howe and Greenwald will face each other in the Republican primary Aug. 6.
Howe has been the county’s chief prosecutor since 2008, while Greenwald is a former assistant prosecutor who worked for Howe and also in the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office. He is now in the Douglas County District Attorney’s office but lives in Johnson County.
Although the two contenders introduced themselves by talking about their experience and prosecuting successes, the audience of about 100 questioned them most closely on immigration and election fraud.
One audience member blamed election results on billionaire George Soros, saying, “How are you going to win a rigged election? If you guys intend on winning — either one of you — you’re going to have to do something on elections.”
Greenwald said he wasn’t privy to all the behind-the-scenes on the ballot destruction earlier this year but understood that their shredding was required by state statute. He said law enforcement can ask the records to be preserved.
Two questioners asked whether the candidates would use the prosecutor’s office to charge other local government officials such as the county commissioners and Chairman Mike Kelly, the county manager and Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog because of the way they did their jobs.
Neither said yes, but both pledged to prosecute any crime if it’s presented to them by law enforcement agencies and if there is enough evidence to bring it to court.
Several in the crowd also wanted to talk about what the district attorney’s office could do about election drop boxes and illegal immigration, neither of which is under the local prosecutor’s direct authority.
Howe’s challenger said he wants to crack down on fentanyl
Howe and Greenwald did have differences on Howe’s performance in office.
Greenwald said he’d take a more aggressive approach than Howe, especially in prosecuting fentanyl dealers.
“Steve said a number of things, and in my experience I don’t find them to be true,” including an assertion that Johnson County charges cases that other places won’t, Greenwald said.
He said he would be tougher on charging for fentanyl and that in the past three years, he has charged two-and-a-half to three times as many cases in Lawrence as Howe did in Johnson County.
Johnson County should be a hub of cooperation with law enforcement agencies on fentanyl, but instead, there is almost no interest among local agencies for a drug task force, Greenwald said.
“By and large, Johnson County is safe, but we can do more,” Greenwald said.
Howe defends record, cites crime data
In his introductory remarks, Howe said, “When I first ran, my slogan was ‘public safety, not politics,’” Howe said. “It’s still my slogan today.
“We’ve got to hold the line against those woke prosecutors that are coming for this office,” he added, characterizing their policies as failing to hold criminals accountable for their actions. “I can win the day against that tsunami of Democratic support that is coming into Johnson County.”
Howe cited Kansas Bureau of Investigation crime statistics showing very little increase in Johnson County from 2009 to the present, despite the population growth.
He also cited a citizen poll showing 90% of respondents feel safe in Johnson County, and mentioned his commitment to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and elder abuse.
Howe pointed to his record, saying of the 130 murder cases since he’s been prosecutor, only three did not result in conviction, and of those, one was ruled not competent to stand trial, and another had unreliable witnesses because of gang membership.
“I have 18 prosecutors out of 41 that have more experience than that gentleman over there,” he said, indicating Greenwald.
Greenwald countered by ticking off a number of experienced attorneys who left the prosecutor’s office. “Forty percent of his office has five or fewer years of experience,” he said, describing a “mass exodus” from the office.
Whoever wins the GOP primary will face the winner of the Democratic primary, which currently includes Vanessa Riebli, a former prosecutor in Howe’s office, or trial lawyer Zach Thomas, who unsuccessfully challenged Howe in 2020.
Though Howe has indicated he plans to run for a fifth term, Johnson County Election Office records show he has not yet formally filed.
More election-related news: Once colleagues, Johnson County sheriff candidates spar at GOP forum
