KS-02: Prosecutor: Kansas congressman blamed staff for registration

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A freshman Kansas congressman misled a sheriff’s detective by blaming staff for a problem with his state voter registration form that led to three felony criminal charges, a prosecutor alleged Monday in a new court filing.

Republican Rep. Steve Watkins listed a postal box at a UPS Inc. store in Topeka as his residence for voter registration purposes for more than three months starting in late August 2019. The charges against him in state district court in Shawnee County include voting illegally in a Topeka City Council race in November 2019 and hampering law enforcement by providing false information to the sheriff’s detective in a February interview during an investigation of whether Watkins broke state election laws.

Watkins has called the charges “bogus” and his attorney filed a request last week with the presiding judge in the case to have District Attorney Mike Kagay disqualified. Watkins’ lawyer alleges that Kagay, a Republican, has a conflict of interest because Kagay’s re-election campaign this year shares a direct mail provider with State Treasurer Jake LaTurner, who is seeking to unseat Watkins in the Aug. 4 primary.

Deputy District Attorney Brett Watson filed a response Monday that called the arguments of Watkins’ attorney “superficial” and said Kagay has met LaTurner only once, in passing. In the filing, Watson provided previously undisclosed details about the allegation that Watkins misled the sheriff’s detective.



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