Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden asserted last weekend at a Republican Party gathering that he had a search warrant in hand just as county election officials were about to go through with destruction of old ballots earlier this year.
But this week the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office contradicted Hayden’s claim, which also implied that county election officials were in a hurry to destroy the ballots before being served.
“We are unaware of any search warrant being submitted to a judge for review,” came the statement from District Attorney Steve Howe’s office by spokesperson Melody Webb on Thursday.
That’s prompted Hayden’s Republican primary challenger, former Undersheriff Doug Bedford, to press Hayden to prove his claim about having a warrant for the long-running election investigation.
“I believe with him saying he had a search warrant in hand he needs to produce it immediately to support his claim,” Bedford said this week. “If he is unable to produce the document, that brings to question the statement he made.”
Hayden did not reply to a request for further comment about the search warrant or the amount of money spent. A Johnson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson cited the continuing investigation as the reason.
Warrant ‘in hand’
On April 13, Hayden, who is seeking a third term in office, and Bedford spoke to about 100 Republicans in a question-and-answer session at the party headquarters in Overland Park.
Hayden’s answer to a question asking why his investigation into local elections has gone on so long without any charges became the focus of a heated back-and-forth between Hayden’s supporters and Bedford, who also claimed Hayden said he had spent “millions” on the investigation.
Hayden responded:
“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 we needed when they decided in a hurry to destroy the records,” he said.
The destruction of election ballots is a requirement of state law but the county had been storing ballots dating back as far as 2019 because of Hayden’s ongoing investigation. They were finally shredded at the Secretary of State’s request earlier this year.
Hayden has for the past three-and-a-half years questioned the integrity of Johnson County’s election process and has made his investigation a frequent topic of appearances before conservative groups. But so far it has yielded only one referral for charges. District Attorney Steve Howe did not pursue action on the allegation of voter intimidation saying there was no evidence supporting charges.
Hayden has also cast suspicion on a software company the county used to manage poll workers, but was later warned by the lawyer for Michigan-based Konnech, Inc. that more public statements could result in legal consequences.
The investigation was the subject of a pointed question at the April 13 GOP gathering.
One audience member asked Hayden: “The election fraud investigation has resulted in zero arrests. Meanwhile Republicans are being criticized for the cost. Is it time to either charge or move forward?”
Hayden said he would continue.
“We’re not going to quit until it’s done,” he said, adding that his office awaits an attorney general’s opinion on whether the ballots should have been destroyed. “I can’t imagine why the secretary of state or anyone else would destroy ballots when they know that there’s a lawful open investigation.”
Bedford countered that the sheriff’s office had plenty of warning before the shredding and needed only to take custody of the ballots before it happened. The ballot destruction was being talked about as early as December when the county commission voted to appoint observers, Bedford said.
The exchange became more heated with Bedford’s rebuttal. Several in the audience loudly objected when Bedford pointed out that Hayden himself had testified to state senators in Topeka that “millions of dollars” have been spent on the ongoing probe.
“Where has the money gone?” Bedford asked on Saturday.
The proof is in a video of Hayden’s testimony at a legislative committee, Bedford said. The testimony was a little over a year ago, when Hayden spoke to the Kansas Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs, alleging violations of election laws. (His remarks start at about the forty-second minute.)
Hayden told lawmakers that the investigation of voting procedures and laws has been complicated.
“It’s the most complicated, convoluted thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s a conundrum and nobody knows how all the connections work. We’ve spent millions of dollars on this thing and it is sad, the situation,” he said during his testimony.
This week, Bedford reiterated his response from the Republican meeting, noting that a search warrant is not open-ended and must be executed or served within 96 hours.
“I believe if, again, there was a search warrant in hand he would’ve acted on the document immediately to support his claim of election fraud,” Bedford wrote in an email reply to the Johnson County Post.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
