Hattrup says a pair of well-known GOP leaders had brokered the meeting. They sensed "a Republican train wreck coming" if Hattrup and Kline faced off in a special vote for Johnson County district attorney. They suggested that Hattrup speak with Kline. Kline wasn't returning Hattrup's calls, so one of the Republicans had set up the meeting.
In November, Kline had lost his bid for re-election as Kansas attorney general. The man who beat him was Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison. Kline began a stealth campaign to switch jobs with Morrison and become Johnson County's top prosecutor.
Hattrup was the only other conservative Republican in a race of four lawyers vying for the job. Hattrup knew he couldn't win. Kline had earned support among the conservative wing of the party for his crusade against abortion. But Hattrup, a stocky, reddish-bearded defense lawyer, wasn't about to go quietly. "I was not going to back down," Hattrup recalls, "just because Phill Kline wanted me to back down."
Kline could wrap up the conservative vote with Hattrup out of the race. He offered Hattrup a deal. If he dropped out, Kline would hire him as a prosecutor.
Kline and Hattrup went way back. Hattrup, an anti-gun-control, anti-embryonic-stem-cell-research Republican, helped Kline in his 1998 race for the Kansas statehouse by digging up dirt on Kline's opponent. When Kline ran for Congress in 2000, Hattrup alerted him to the fact that Kline's law license had expired. More recently, Hattrup helped Kline in his unsuccessful re-election campaign for attorney general.
Even with all this history, Hattrup asked Kline to put the deal in writing. Kline refused. Hattrup asked for some assurance. Hattrup remembers that Kline told him slowly and deliberately, "You will be able to prosecute cases in my office."
Hattrup took the deal.
But Kline didn't want Hattrup to drop out just yet. Kline wanted him in the running until the night of the special election. Kline also told him not to go public; he didn't want the media to find out about the deal.
The night of the December 11 special election went as planned. When the meeting began, a delegate nominated Kline. Hattrup pulled out.
Kline won, 316-291. Kline's victory speech was short. "I look forward to working with all of you to ensure that justice is served, that the right decisions are made and that our communities and children are safe," Kline said, according to an article in The Olathe News. "Thank you very much for this honor."
Later that night, Hattrup ate with Kline's entourage at a Ruby Tuesday. "As far as I knew, I was one of the gang," Hattrup says.
On January 8, Hattrup attended Kline's swearing-in ceremony. Kline told him that they needed to set up a meeting to discuss Hattrup's hiring. Two days later, Kline summoned Hattrup to his office. Kline was direct during the 45-minute meeting. Kline spent most of the meeting explaining why he was backing out of the deal. Kline even claimed that it was Hattrup who hadn't honored their agreement. "I'm not going to do it," Hattrup recalls Kline telling him. "I'm not going to hire you as a prosecutor."
Showing 1-22 of 22
the prosecutor of DA was wrong and to elect klin was a huge mistake and the promise which was made to hattrup was really a insult...........
==============================================================
1) attorney directory
the prosecutor of DA was wrong and to elect klin was a huge mistake and the promise which was made to hattrup was really a insult........... ============================================================== 1) attorney directory
As a sufferer of the JO CO judicial system, I have to say it isn't just the DA that is wrong, the whole system is flawed and needs to be put under a microscope!!
As a sufferer of the JO CO judicial system, I have to say it isn't just the DA that is wrong, the whole system is flawed and needs to be put under a microscope!!
What happened to Jesse Payne? Does he still work for the dimwit? His wife's website said he's focusing on Bible law or something like that. Just wondering if he got fired or if really is practicing Bible law.
What happened to Jesse Payne? Does he still work for the dimwit? His wife's website said he's focusing on Bible law or something like that. Just wondering if he got fired or if really is practicing Bible law.
As a recent Domestic Abuse file that was shuffled through the DAs office; not a person, I became even more angry (if possible) when i relized that i wasn't the only one to get terrible representation. My case was dismissed due to the fact that the state "attorney" forgot to ask for the state witnesses names before he began questioning and never stated that the battery occured in Johnson County.
Take a look at the update Justin Kendall did for this great article and be reminded that Phill Kline is not doing anything to solve the problems in his DAs office and even if you haven't been personally affected by it yet we all need to let Mr. Kline know that it is not acceptable.
As a recent Domestic Abuse file that was shuffled through the DAs office; not a person, I became even more angry (if possible) when i relized that i wasn't the only one to get terrible representation. My case was dismissed due to the fact that the state "attorney" forgot to ask for the state witnesses names before he began questioning and never stated that the battery occured in Johnson County. Take a look at the update Justin Kendall did for this great article and be reminded that Phill Kline is not doing anything to solve the problems in his DAs office and even if you haven't been personally affected by it yet we all need to let Mr. Kline know that it is not acceptable.
Having perused the website "Biblical Womanhood", it seems to me that Jesse Payne was an absolutely inappropriate choice to be working in a Domestic Violence section of the DA's office. Every other entry on their website is about a wife's submission to the husband and they both subscribe to the beliefs espoused in the terrible book "Created to be His Help Meet" by the Pearls. (A book that is probably required reading by the Taliban). Payne probably told those poor battered women that it was their fault they enraged their husband by not being submissive enough and if only they would apologize meekly to their husbands, they wouldn't get beat up next time. Apparently, he's worked for Phill Kline since he graduated from law school, so Payne must have been a bad fit for his own mentor to demote him.
Having perused the website "Biblical Womanhood", it seems to me that Jesse Payne was an absolutely inappropriate choice to be working in a Domestic Violence section of the DA's office. Every other entry on their website is about a wife's submission to the husband and they both subscribe to the beliefs espoused in the terrible book "Created to be His Help Meet" by the Pearls. (A book that is probably required reading by the Taliban). Payne probably told those poor battered women that it was their fault they enraged their husband by not being submissive enough and if only they would apologize meekly to their husbands, they wouldn't get beat up next time. Apparently, he's worked for Phill Kline since he graduated from law school, so Payne must have been a bad fit for his own mentor to demote him.
Don't look now but AG Morrison just filed formal charges against the Abortionist Tiller. Guess you'll have to eat your words (you've probably eaten worse) and or admit you were wrong....again.
Gee, you folks need DA help... Just fast-track x-Durham county, NC's DA Mike Niphong through the Kansas bar... and you will have - improved - your situation!!!
Don't look now but AG Morrison just filed formal charges against the Abortionist Tiller. Guess you'll have to eat your words (you've probably eaten worse) and or admit you were wrong....again.
Gee, you folks need DA help... Just fast-track x-Durham county, NC's DA Mike Niphong through the Kansas bar... and you will have - improved - your situation!!!
Paul Morrison was such a class act in this position taken over by the dimwit. Re-electing Kline would be as huge a mistake as the re-election of George W. has been. Very impressed with the writing, Mr. Kendall. I haven't seen as much detail in this rag since Deb Hipp. What ever happened to her anyway?
Paul Morrison was such a class act in this position taken over by the dimwit. Re-electing Kline would be as huge a mistake as the re-election of George W. has been. Very impressed with the writing, Mr. Kendall. I haven't seen as much detail in this rag since Deb Hipp. What ever happened to her anyway?
The bad guys won when Kline and Connie Morris got elected, and now the bad guys have a free pass in Johnson County. Love crime and chaos in Kansas? Thank the conservative GOP!
The bad guys won when Kline and Connie Morris got elected, and now the bad guys have a free pass in Johnson County. Love crime and chaos in Kansas? Thank the conservative GOP!
It's even worse than the article implies. Local law enforcement is desperately looking for alternatives for prosecuting their cases--either going downward to municipal courts, or begging the Feds to charge in the Federal court system. Kline did bring in some good staff (Tim Keck), but most are not so good. The staff there hate Kline, Rucker, and Maxwell, and when 80% of your staff hates you, it's hard to be effective. Rucker fosters the hatred with an "us" (Kline and acololytes) vs. "them" (Morrison's hires) attitude where dedicated civil servants are treated like a hated enemy. Most people have NO IDEA of how bad it is in the DA's office in Johnson County.
It's even worse than the article implies. Local law enforcement is desperately looking for alternatives for prosecuting their cases--either going downward to municipal courts, or begging the Feds to charge in the Federal court system. Kline did bring in some good staff (Tim Keck), but most are not so good. The staff there hate Kline, Rucker, and Maxwell, and when 80% of your staff hates you, it's hard to be effective. Rucker fosters the hatred with an "us" (Kline and acololytes) vs. "them" (Morrison's hires) attitude where dedicated civil servants are treated like a hated enemy. Most people have NO IDEA of how bad it is in the DA's office in Johnson County.
like
dislike
