Former Sheriff Calvin Hayden’s three-year investigation into allegations of election irregularities used 880 staff hours and about $88,000 of taxpayer funds, according to a press release issued Tuesday by new Sheriff Byron Roberson.
Hayden put the investigation on pause last July. Roberson said the probe was officially closed on Jan. 30, less than a month after Roberson took office.
Roberson accused his predecessor of using the investigation to invent a scandal out of thin air: “Can we create a crime and create paperwork in relation to that?”
The figures disclosed by Roberson in Tuesday’s release were the first time anyone has publicly assigned a dollar figure to the investigation.
Hayden repeatedly demurred from estimating the tax dollars spent, saying the investigators he assigned to the task mixed their work on elections with other duties, making it difficult to separate hours spent.
Roberson promised during last fall’s campaign, if elected, to share his findings on the investigation after he reviewed what Hayden had found, if anything.
3 people, 100 complaints
Hayden frequently justified the investigation by saying he had a duty to look into potentially criminal matters when his office received complaints or allegations.
Roberson’s release Tuesday said just three people were responsible for more than 100 election fraud complaints that prompted the investigation.
Roberson said from his review of the paperwork, it should have been apparent early on that that there was “no meat” to the complaints.
Those complaints ranged from allegations that voting machines switched votes to reports that poll workers allowed some people to vote twice. Roberson did not disclose the names of those who filed the complaints.
In the end, Hayden submitted just one complaint, obstructing of voting privilege, to Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe for possible charging.
Howe did not file criminal charges for that one alleged instance of “obstructing of voting privilege,” saying at the time there wasn’t enough evidence to bring it to court.
Ballot box surveillance
Hayden’s investigation also included around-the-clock surveillance of ballot boxes for three weeks in July 2022, leading up to the primary election that year.
That same year, the sheriff’s office allocated $50,000 from its budget for software to aid in the investigation, Roberson said. That money was included in the $88,000 Roberson revealed in his press release Tuesday.
Detectives spent at least 880 hours on the case.
“These are seasoned investigators that are spending time basically chasing a conspiracy theory,” Roberson said.
Roberson said he does not blame the deputies. “They were given direction and told to do something by the head of the organization. And that's what they did.”
A phone call and text message to Hayden were not returned.
Hayden’s investigation became more controversial after he began talking publicly about it, casting suspicions about the county’s conduct of election procedures without giving any solid details or proof.
On more than one occasion, he spoke with right-wing groups about his suspicions about a growing Democratic voting pattern in what had been a long-time Republican stronghold, often citing the fact that Joe Biden earned more votes than Donald Trump in Johnson County in 2020. (Biden earned more votes than Trump in Johnson County in 2024, as well.)
State and county election officials have repeatedly stressed the security of Kansas election procedures and have said there have been no widespread irregularities in recent elections.
At a legislative committee hearing in 2023, Hayden suggested there were many violations but only produced one for charging.
At times, Hayden also suggested election problems could be tied to a Michigan-based software vendor. However, that vendor eventually won a separate lawsuit in Los Angeles after claims against it could not be substantiated, and lawyers for the company warned Hayden against his “baseless” election probe.
Ultimately, Hayden was defeated by former Undersheriff Doug Bedford in the Republican primary for sheriff last summer. Bedford moved on to the general election, which was won by Roberson.
‘Rebuilding public trust’
Roberson said Tuesday that releasing the findings was an important part of “rebuilding public trust” in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
“While this investigation has concluded, our dedication to ensuring safety, fairness and respect for every individual remains our highest priority,” he said in the release.
County Commission Chairman Mike Kelly aid Roberson’s win in November showed the voters were fed up with Hayden’s investigation.
“This brings closure to the taxpayers of Johnson County,” he said.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
