KANU News Retention

the following program is a special presentation of kansas public radio the views expressed are not necessarily those of kansas public radio its affiliates staff or management the keys hello and welcome to another program in kansas public radio's continuing series of statewide election debates and mccain's statehouse bureau chief for kansas public radio doing the next hour we will focus on this year's hotly contested race for attorney general the two candidates vying to replace bob stephan as the state's chief law enforcement officer of republican cost oval and democrat richard showed off stovall is a former crawford county prosecutor who now runs her own law practice in topeka their opponent richard showed off a wichita head of the consumer fraud division of the sedgwick county district attorney's office for eight years he resigned from the position last summer in order to run his campaign full time both candidates recently

took part in a kansas public radio forum held wichita's simple public library joining me on the panel to ask questions of the candidates would a variety of the wichita eagle newspaper might take television and that a buckley president of the wichita bar association the moderate it was gordon basham news director of kansas public radio member station kplu w in wichita the debate began with the candidate's opening statements college stovall when first thank you very much for the opportunity to be here was nice to be in with the tide littered different times of my life i went to river view elementary school the kindergarten first and second grade then moved away graduate from high school in the area and it's back to wichita and i lived here so every cover caught world an insult for nature and carpet at the twin lakes shopping center for the shares this year's department stores that i still like coming back up again to come to wichita in fact when i was in wichita for a short time and was a member of the witch trial with the women voters and so it's nice to be

a guest at the sponsor for him i did grow up and airy and basically i am a lifelong resident of the state of kansas pittsburg state undergraduate school and then to the university of kansas to law school as soon as gordon so as a quiet county attorney and was elected in nineteen eighty four of all the things i've done in my professional career that is what i have worked and enjoyed absolutely the most it was enforcing the laws protecting the public being the good guy wearing the white hat and i very much see the attorney general's office has a chance to do that same sort of things obviously on a much larger more important scale well it was a county attorney i had a personal conviction or a jury trial of ninety percent i was given the state of kansas child sexual abuse prosecutor word for my prosecution experience and interest those kinds of crimes and i was selected by the national college of district attorneys to be a teacher for other district attorneys across the united states there are ninety eight when governor hayden appointed me to the kansas for all war and i served for four years and that ordinary crimes big name of being the velvet hammer because of my consistent over when

violent offenders were considered for release and special assistant attorney general and two very high profile cases one of which was argued before the the kansas supreme court and it televise the arguments like because of the novelty of the case and how important it was to design a master's in public administration that's important because the budget of fourteen million dollars and two hundred fifty people are on staff and france you have in the primary had fifty one republican chairs adores me i now have a majority of both democrat and republican chairs and been endorsed by the fraternal order of police announced a white lives and today we had a press conference in topeka announced forty for prosecutors around the state thank you mr sugar of the german scored it's great to be here tonight on a prosecutor that abbas had that to us tends the da's office and in that way now business it's a business background that i had been very successfully that made me think about government and changed my whole view about the way government run i am married

my wife and i have a mixed marriage show she's a republican for president obama's republican support raising three politically dysfunctional children we have but my wife is a vice president lee woo voters says of years ago and then so it's great to be a lake sponsored event there is no running for attorney general as a believer system's broken as a prosecutor i spend more time apologizing to victims than i did criminals away and then i'd heard of kansas law ninety percent of the criminal acts result and probation each and every time and what message does that send it doesn't send any message it sends a message that there are consequences for criminal behavior i believe that we have to come back to the community we have to draw a line and say used to say we don't have to tolerate crime there can be consequences are not suggested specific things that can be done and secondly they're affordable i look at the da's office get entertained would like to change the way that office is run

in the dna of these awesome which offset programs ups a taxpayer dollars to help workers more effective one more actual words in it across my hair united states they're setting up programs that actually work and i'd like to take those programs to the attorney general's office we can do better we must do better for the people of the state of kansas thank you mr shortz it's time now to examine the candidates the issues and the fifth district beyond the traditional race we want you the members of the audience to ask questions but to getting started we are questioning with our first question comes from or likely of the wichita bar associations assistant to both canned asparagus we start with the show or your television airs may lot about the orange jumpsuit and criminals going back to work or going or color in prison what authorities attorney general really have to make that come about the last minute still overcome snl so much thank you the accents else talk about prohibition again that's the focus of my attention

is what happens when you've given probation i would put people back in the community that you work on weekends in orange jumpsuits a little bit of humiliation unbelievable why it's kind of changing the definition of the term drive violent the victims driving by the criminals and yes it can have it doesn't make any new laws honestly right now under the crime law that judges have the power as part of probation to order this type of conditions we just don't have the programs i have taught to show it shows a poor farm very interested in starting this program training reserve shows reserves in safety to watch these individuals as they as they were inside the community it's saying yes we know you are what you did and we know tormented inside our community to have to send some message at the beginning probation is not a message i knew that was the state of kansas this can be done very easily i really believe that that message can be sensitive committee if the prisoner's that is the only message that

we sent we have to wait till you've committed sixty eight felonies waited too late years ago but it was a sure workers don't want to have too much the party attorney general has to put people in orange jumpsuits their own probation a row there isn't the power within the attorney general's office to do that to dictate it anyway that's what should be done so sure it was right at the power exists right now from four court judges to have people on probation to community corrections committee corrections is part of the law now and they can do that it doesn't take anything they did it to make this idea <unk> happen it's not anything innovative that has come about on his part secretary of corrections right now with people in orange jumpsuits and they can do community service work along the roadsides they do that right now it's not a new and innovative kind of program the problem i have with the worst jobs the concept is that it says the answer to crime and he believes that because people can wear orange jumpsuits they will be shamed from committing crime because of the prospect of warren weinstein says one of the reasons the state was at the fraternal order of police and the worst name and what was that biotech

can warm and his endorsement remarks were on first because of the leakage same people away from committing crime by the thought that they're going to be orange jumpsuits people that commit crimes and have a conscience and shame doesn't enter into their work out lyrics into the personality and so they're not supportive of that i'm curious what share of secession or vindicates do support the program because i certainly not writing to me to think that that's a legitimate way to try to solve crime we appear in front of a seminar yesterday atchison the domestic violence and sexual assault seminar with people who work in that program any side indicated those advocates for domestic violence that if the perpetrators were knew that they were going to be in orange jumpsuits they went out of their spouses or partners ahead of time because the shame would keep them from doing that same is not to stop that kind of compulsive behavior and i think it's a fraud on the public to try to suggest an orange jumpsuit is gonna solve the crime problem because it's not thank you mr walter the next question comes from pamela been exposed to ask the question does the running of the wichita eagle on this is question is for both candidates is well on us

every two years on a slow news day a reporter will pull up a list of attorneys are awarded contracts from the attorney general's office to perform war mr wallace he offered does today cited her handling of the extradition case of lisa casino case before the supreme court an earlier interviews mr schiller frozen or criticize the awarding of those contracts and thinks most of them can be handled in the office when i'm curious about is what procedures have collected which procedures which you put in place for deciding how those contracts are awarded and who would get them we will go and rotation mr shortz answer first the last time still wallace his first steps toward it to minutes thanks very much for the opportunity i'd like to point out that what it to the case that we see that extradition downed arkansas argued that before the kansas court of appeals as well as the federal district court and charged and nothing for doing

that and that was absolutely pro bono in and knew myself with a law firm in which i was and we received anything i think it's a dui lawyers to participate on a pro bono basis and so why make that very clear there last year he changes out of a hundred thousand dollars in outside fees to lawyers representing the state some of that was when there was a conflict of interest which is for example how i came to represent the state on the casino gambling case the business in the legislature directed the attorney general's office to take was different than what the attorney general himself had taken and so it had to be handled by outside counselor us he would've been is this and asking his assistants to overturn his own opinions so there will always be cases with a conflict that have to be given outside of the office staff and it's important that the person had the ability to handle that kind of litigation we need to look out whether nine part of that the lawyers to get the eight hundred thousand dollars worth of services could indeed been on staff and if we bring some of the people on staff whether they can do the work and a better basis more cost

effectively than if we continue to pay on an hourly basis people on the outside and adolescents going on in the offices the water lawsuit the way to get people to handle that is based on that specialty it's a unique area of the law that there are very few chinese are are competent to handle because it has such a particular interest and so you've got to look for people that are specialized to be able to do that for some suggested that there should be a pool of attorneys that's that perhaps department administration of people a contract out for legal services will upgrade are competent to handle the white right chase is the end and the lawyers are selected from among a group of people and that's really something that i'm willing to consider that we do to try to change the process a little bit like in the storms trimmed or two minutes has served as an excellent question and i've been talking about this since the start the debate did a year and a half ago when a business it became very at intimate and i hired outside counsel to handle cases but that was an inefficient system i want to move to a lot of the legal work in my company insider higher ed

attorneys and it turned out that that's right that it does cut costs but many major businesses are following natalie it's interesting like my point out about her record and the appellate court are going to continue to your case it's interesting that the coverage of the state of kansas was twenty five thousand dollars for their case yet and she lost it that the attorney that one case was also pointed wednesday to kansas of those fourteen thousand six hundred so i just want to want to live in that particular case but i really believe him any business when you run a business you happy every day look at taxpayer cost and it cost to make sure that youre providing a better service every day as cheaply as you can easily do to make any money but the government isn't under the same constraints because what we can do we can just get more money from the taxpayers raise the cost of government might campaign program ever been talking about keeps one eye on the budget because this is my experience i actually in

active programs india's autism which taught that it's a substantial amount of money and this is one program that i have talked about since we started we've got to be able to reduce the cost of government and make it more effective this program of handing out there these type of love i guess to two of a word attorneys in this case my own party has been endorsed by the current attorney general cannot go on again is just something that has to be eliminated thank you mr schoonover witnessed rarely want to ask of all questions of course you do that you wish and of course members of the audience pickens who also we ask you that shortly but i think those are valid questions but i think the stated the question will that have but i'm curious about is it an insurance commissioners race going on now we have similar visions going on that oh boy were awarded by the insurance commissioner's office goes to people who

were major contributors to the insurance commissioner's election campaign and i'm curious either of you would install some paul says that would prevent a leading contributors getting work creating the potential conflict of interest but we're going to make one of the moderators executive decisions here of all questions would like to keep its moving so each of you that's all right with you on one minute to respond back into the same order so this totally new cancer first just read the next one and that's a look at trying to insure that there's no conflict of interest to say that because some way contributed to my campaign they're excluded from ever getting any any such contact in the attorney general's office would be wrong and not likely to give a paycheck to somebody gave it to my opponent for example is that the key is that you have qualified people what i do whatever that that was what mr sanders said there's no question that my bill in a casino gambling case that happens more than that than mr dunham pries the key differences in the first month i build a hundred and forty

hours to get that he's ready and on while before the kansas supreme court he built twenty four hours every other month after that is certain rights bill was larger than mine was was only the first month and a tremendous amount of work that took decades to get ready for the kansas supreme court filing an original action which is a very unusual action it was the first time in thirty nine year is that the kansas senate had directed the attorney general's office to file a lawsuit against the governor like that i am not ashamed of that bill it was a very important case that was my privilege to be able to argue that in any ten minutes or so to think it over billed as an appropriate for jewish tombs truth of that approach mr obama's response i've always ended by a business is the bottom line so much to build on private that's fine for and that was the bottom line that salvation to work for your clients mr ai i agree with what you're saying the bottom line and that is this is on the part of the ethical package for although not

just the attorney general's office the governor's office passes out the poems all the time it's a regular part of the money in government and i think that all the government needs to look at the way we we yeah we handle the government's business and so i would be willing to be part of an overall ethical package that would restrict government from handing out these plans ending in i think eventually it will happen i would also like to extend it to the current attorney general if he leaves the office instead to know whether or not he will agree not to my opponent lands not accept their chances thanks very much the next question for vermont apple comes from not want to work at the industry should or voyager first it is it is a campaign has one particular mr shiller says that you hope a drug dealer in court after case did you actually do it it was a little

too much i absolutely did not do that any statement that indicates i did is an absolute lie i did not have drug dealers in court or out of court i don't have any criminal defendants i have on occasion i do because victims in court when a verdict is cut in and also had children who have been witnesses in child sexual abuse cases there's nothing more to that story then that was published initially by a newspaper that was owned by the person i beat when i ran for the proper county attorney's job who understandably is not one of my supporters at it is that putting that apparently appears in the television commercial <unk> if you would've asked me about it ahead of time i could've provided an explanation it would not be casting this as person on my professionalism were my credibility i take great offense to that advertisement but he restored was treasurer for one minute sir melissa can determine his paper route out individuals in the county and one of them is is the store walls former assistant county attorney john bullard who told me not all

that story he he said that several months earlier in another action again carla they defended but that's not the point the point is this is an individual who brag about being the largest cocaine dealer in accounting a million dollar your annual income and he was arrested in about two to a plea bargain and then rearrested on a second charge there should have been a hammer out he's complained dealers to me it ought not hard labor i have no use for him i would never cut a deal with the drug dealer allowing them this type of leeway in involve broader and someone gave me that i probably foskett who mr schrieber thank you very much the next question comes from the you know as public radio's to vacate things i get this question to us showed off your opponent has been responding to accusations of the last few weeks about the wreck august crawford county prosecutor and in

defending itself has pointed out that you haven't already go to criticize when it comes to fighting hardened criminals because you never prosecuting violent crimes how do you respond to that researcher too much that's a correct statement i have a consumer fraud and property crimes agenda that takes and ninety percent of all crimes bit of kansans so does that mean that because you you haven't had a murder trial that you shouldn't be eligible for attorney general our current attorney general as far as i know as a prosecutor has never prosecuted the case and he's been there for sixteen years i've tried a criminal case does your ipod a three day jury trial that was on tv it was a case of the first impression on on a day part of the crime that really affects older adults we got a conviction it made national news i'm very proud of my mind prosecution record contract is going to the campaigns and the

cheese the blood and the us attorney in this case and in a certain this race but in reality i could only find one button that case and she lost it so that is all about someone pointing out of the records i'm saying yes this is what i i'm interested to myself and mindy and my opponent and reality isn't there i am very proud of what i have done and i think that the solutions that i am suggesting for crime come from a very rich backgrounds abbas could restore what that means indeed on more than just one murder trial that the prosecution of manslaughter cases in which three people have died that's applied and that's richard i have done that it's much more than just property crimes i'm very proud of that record it's been everything from murder all the way down to bad checks i had the gamut of experience after that i want to tell me who the defendant is that someone else indicates that i allegedly hut because there's absolutely not true i absolutely do not do that the reason that drug dealer

got a recommendation for probation is because the sheriff's department and it entered into agreements the day after he was arrested that he would do undercover drug investigation where he made between ten and twelve cases for the sheriff's department in which one resulted in eighty kilos of cocaine and other pound of marijuana and another when he had to man fly from texas with methamphetamine strapped to their bodies he was the biggest strike and recover operator that they had seen in southeast kansas the sheriff's department determined it was worth his experience to be able to get more cases for the sheriff's department that's why he was allowed to do undercover work that is why i recommended probation as part of the deal we entered into the day after his arrest that was what it was all about richard obviously would say they don't want to do that you know everyone in a big deal because you don't know how this drug undercover operations were the only way you get drug arrests is when you have somebody go undercover and are willing to make those kinds of guys and i was that any implication to the contrary to sara's apartment was very much a part and parcel of that initiated that deal for him to get probation thank you very much mr wald

it's not the time for our audience to ask questions if they so choose and now we ask did you decide to ask a question that you stepped to the microphone that was her main and the vigilance to a question on the speeches you what if we don't have anyone who will he is courageous enough to walk upright known as the question would you want to ask a question on the present a lot of on the one test question thanks very much too you're listening to an attorney general form of kansas public radio in wichita between the candidates the treasurer for girls to well we have our first question from the audience to get mail a question which my name's kareem ranking carla her position is you have a tap on her how would you respond to let her interest it will be begin stating you were negligent in prague prosecuting particular case thank you very much mr walker tumultuous fall i didn't know what that particular article

was with that with regard to the murder trial we've heard that so many times that i'm assuming that that's what it was and it was the case that we had time to guide numerous times in this campaign also during the primary there was a murder in crockett county kansas to people were charged with that murder one of whom was convicted is serving time in waves of correctional facility and will be there for a very very long time a second man who was charged with the murder was acquitted by during the jury simply didn't believe go beyond a reasonable doubt based upon the circumstantial evidence that was turned out by the sheriff's department in that investigation it was most unfortunate obviously that the second person was a convicted that was the jury's decision as a prosecutor you can only go there to the jury with the evidence that you have available there was no fingerprint left there was no identification of the eye witness at the scene you can identify the second person and that's all the prosecutor has to work with to say that i'm not fit to serve as attorney general because the jury happened to acquit one person when i served as county attorney is ridiculous mr schoen or

would be unqualified because he's not even done a murder case that we cite had the guts to do that i would suggest to my record and property and it was a hundred percent of convictions then people would say that i owe it to the very easy cases to jury trial and i didn't have the guts to take the tough ones so it's kind of them win situation i'm very proud of my record and there i was only one case that of all those selected to jury trial as i indicated in the beginning of a ninety percent conviction rate and i'm not at all embarrassed about that it's to get the system failed in that case i feel that very severely but it doesn't mean that i'm not qualified to be attorney general i think someone that has prosecuted violent criminals has a better understanding and certainly a better amount of respect among prosecutors i think that's why forty four prosecutors today were public in their support in their support of my campaign because they understand that i've been there and done that i think that's why i have a great amount of support from the law enforcement community that i do as well it was tortured but first law does to finish up the question that it all is the course that was true about six weeks over she's leaving

out the fact that after he testified in these cases he broke their agreement because you you went out and started doing major drug dealing the echo hundred thousand dollars and in drug money and then that and cocaine and so now is one that we should have come down in that or were cars being criticized is because as an individual who should've been doing top five as far as vivian murder case it's just a question of years into the blood and guts attorney you look at that case the first candidate was given a sweetheart deal about that you can count on and it was no testimony gun with regard to the other person i talk to the victim victims of them who survived the shooting is an execution site type killing and he said he was never asked whether or not he could identify the defendant's voice and he said i was reading willing and able to do so i told the a prosecutor this then that was never called back to me but the decision of the audience is invited us

questions seventy one has a question for the two candidates so pleased to the front if not we will go back to early to the palin will start at the top that are ugly bar association asking the next question so for both candidates you both campaigned quite heavily on a tougher law enforcement recently longer sentences as i understand it the prisons and jails or are full if you're going to have these additional people go to jail and seems mean the only solution to your aid to build more prisons and it's a better answer words ma come from or be really summer people are imprisoned now we're going to go back into the rotation that we left off with while ago and we left off with ms stow wal mart answering the question first to mr shortz i still want to dance i very much do support lengthening sentences i think the fact that knowing kansas a first time offender convicted of rape were killing someone in a drive by shooting that they can get out of prison after four years and seven months is unconscionable absolutely do not

support that and more like the legislature to lengthen their sentences for violent offenders but we have to realize is that when we asked them some guidelines when the legislature did a year ago they had to live that overcrowding at that time every state has ever adopted sentencing guidelines his experience prison overcrowding so we're going to have over crowding into kansas peanuts without any of those changes that i suggested so the legislature next session has got to first address that and make sure that there's room for those currently incarcerated there that have come under sensing guidelines i think that when it comes time to look at additional bed space if indeed that time comes the night and i do believe you're correct that well i think we have to look at two camps are not violent property offenders i think we need to look at and they hid it better facilities converting them i think we need to look at private prison time absolutely willing to revisit the issue of private prisons if we believe that can be done in a cost effective manner support construction of another fifty eight million dollars prison like we have done an older radio that's that what the public concern is with this that we put so much money in prisons it's been suggested that if if we had to have bake

sales to support prisons that the concession wouldn't be so great and perhaps that money should be going into domestic violence shelters in the whites and that we have our priorities mixed up so i think that we've got to be very cost conscious that we have got to as a society be willing to put away a violent offenders for one carries a time no matter what the cost is the public demands that promotes government that kind of protection and willing to get to go to the mat to make sure that that happens they could restore was true argument about america's next question because i can say sixty eight what we have done is to say every four years we have a new crime bill a new get tough measure and then we start adding up letting out the people that we put him in the the last get tough measure which is what happened this last few years in the legislature to put more people in juneau parties says that now i get talk again on one drug crimes that mean bushes with no use for i mean users yet every study that's come

down the pike says you treat him best inside the community community corrections programs and what we do we come to a community corrections programs to fill up our prisons were drug addicts we know it doesn't work as a matter of fact the crime bill that required all started out with the idea what we can pick up a lot of our federal problems like being without drug problems inside of a community where it really works but what we do we ended up in the neptune exactly the same opposite what we know works i do want a change that we're going to go back to what i believe works i also believe that there are deep for all crimes and the trouble with that is that you hear much talk and we look at at their young offenders were shooting people isn't the first crime it's there's six to eight convictions before they shoot their first person it's a progression were growing our own cromwell's i think of deterrent it can work you can reduce that to the extent that we have to put violent people i guess polite but all that are our presidents up what the people imprisoned really believe that the

longer that people will prosper problems that can and we're going to continue to support their drug addicted drug rehabilitation programs community corrections works and we don't use it thank you mr schroeder you're listening to a community forum on kansas public radio welcomes attorney general candidates richard schroeder and coastal once again we go back to the audience of those in the audience you would like to ask questions center of a charnel that panel and whether want to us support and ask the question the church has to exercise democracy if cops will go back to the panel and the next question will come from a reading in which you played well i've been enjoying all the talk of kroll of those voyages over to open meetings in the aereo social services as i'm sure both of you know the state really doesn't if you're a poor person and you have a health problem you know go see the state of kansas to go see a program that is financed by the state of kansas

and more and more we are seeing all kinds of tax dollars going into private not for profit corporations and we've had an incident here in which telephone health clinic and we got one listen to were refused service records and i'm wondering do you have you interpret the state's open meeting hall to apply to private not for profit corporations opening their records when they involve tax dollars it was really for especially given minister schroeder of two minutes i believe that the taxpayers have a fundamental right to know what is happening with their tax dollars i also believe that along and just needs to be reformed i have situations

where individuals high behind elect officials need to proceed to executive session to discuss things that should be discussed in public does there are things that need to be discussing expected certain things like reviews of employees i don't wanna be reviewed it out in the open but at the same time i think there's a lot of other things that are discussed in executive session that shouldn't be people have the right to know what the government i have prosecuted as part of my job the da's office which prosecuted opening violations and we took a hard line because it's a fundamental right to effective government hasn't practiced in the open you were asking for problems in for violations of the line for kickbacks and all of this sort of things that go on behind closed doors i would vote for her a definite for the definition of both by exactly what could be taught about an executive session and as far as garden city that particular problem

i don't think the debate sit there and say you can't have access to a fight is that you get which may have to cultivate your own cost and sorrows through and want to make it so expensive you can do it that's obstructionism in itself so i don't really support the right of the taxpayers to know because it's the only way that our current government will function correctly thank you shouldn't be a struggle you have to pitch an egg openings are very important as well as open records and is serving a scrapper county attorney was my responsibility to make sure that the county commission for example as well as other public agencies always complied with open meetings that first requested it was going somewhere not that the people who go there for health care whether their records were open a suicide mission in another sense is worth a role here and so much of a government support for these programs are provision of services going to private not for profit corporation

and that's tax dollars and we seem to be a lead and do whatever they want people decide that they're somewhat cynically win support opening up of the private companies are represented investments in many of their ideas to for though opening up and making it more clear what information is available and i would support efforts to make sure that it that the legislation is change so that record so that money is going into those public not for profit agencies are are made available it's important that we do that we take your openings that we don't allow business to be conducted behind closed doors and for those of us that a representative government for that tristan the inclination to people in government to want to do that it's even more common upon us to ensure that that does not happen i support taking a very close look anytime any more exceptions to up to the executive sessions are proposed so that that we don't allow many more exceptions and selling it for any reason less than the urgent circumstances i supported what happened this legislative session when the

attorney general said that teleconference plan calls for example should be subject to open meetings though the us supreme court disagreed but then the legislature codified the attorney general's opinion i supported the action one of the actors for in the few seconds that i had remaining and respond the last communist regime were made it was no sweetheart deal with that river and i find that so objectionable that six years after the murder case i would be having to defend a case made based on information that i hadn't sort of doesn't know the facts doesn't know the witnesses that were there any information that was there and the fact that of murder i was the ideal woman is being made a political football is absolutely unconscionable i think the lesson in this case is that for any trial attorney they should never try to run for public office that they have ever lost a case and that's where this is coming down to at least i try to murder trial we understand the mister surveyed had won jury trial i would ask him to indicate how many ways stores but we've danced

around here is that ms stovall entered a plea agreement was one of two men accused of murder and then the issue is why did to cop a plea agreement with the sky without taking a statement that could've been used in court well you have your story there wasn't a statement taken from that from chris brown believes the person is now serving time for the murder charge because it would not have been untruthful statements they did the deed the deal that got kept the sixty nine year old surviving husband from having to testify two times it kept the expense of the challenges his deal was not a sweetheart deal is gonna be in western correctional facility or some state prison for a very long time in this when they were arrested a shared house there's two men's side by side in and sells it they were able to communicate with one another they concocted a story about a

third person for me to brand build on the stand and resource trial would have allowed again sixty injured in testimony to that their stories that obviously isn't anything but a good prosecutor would do there was no reason to put him on there is no reason to take that statement there are other reasons for these high still stand by this trial decisions and i have done question that all of the witnesses that were available i talk to the surviving husband he had no problems about we testify and he asked is turning to go to the prosecutor and say i would like to testify against this person i recognize the voice as far as the first deal what was about is this this murder and there was substantial evidence that porter was allowed to write a sentence concurrent with the time has gone from oklahoma running a sense can come with the time he had left a servant indiana and oklahoma he got fifteen years to life and twenty or was a sense

and so in reality this was a sweetheart deal i'm sorry it was as far as a prosecutor i got there it is something that you don't get a less forgiving something back and exchange and then in exchange and you went into the other colleges this without without any ammunition and and without calling improper witness thank you mr shiller of movie ride along we can go back to be audience now has anyone ever want to ask a question that we ask that you give your name just like he did in a major question where's my name is telling us does as both candidates have what you described your management style and what would you like to see happen in the attorney general's office the next four years of his arrest of scissors <unk> go first to travel too much my style is and it's very thorough i believe that the main watson the

bottom line that you have to motivate employees one thing the government doesn't have that particular will business will live as you get people because of a bunch of reasons the differences between to businesses is usually the ability to provide better services or government doesn't get employees excited about their jobs and that is something that i have done him in business and had a diamond in government as i got to have to the base level the people or providing services and say listen i want you to know that the best way to get a promotion eliminate your job if you come up with a new idea and we enacted you get the day off you got to be said is that a piece of incentives they have to go to work understanding the better service for the taxpayers is is exciting and something that they want to do and that's exactly how i double my market share my company that's how we thought of things and is august reduced taxpayer cost of produce my staff by a third and

yet last year about in the same amount of money as the da's the eighties often all the rest of the state and consumer area and it was a faction employees things like silver haired front squats week a retired individuals and brought him in and end and taught him a lot of the investigators a mediator sense of the eighties office he says attorneys for i wanna run more effective and efficient government i wonder as i said before many national awards for my programs haven't liked to take those the ages office this is something that they're not only am i said what i'm going to do i've done these things they do more and we can expect more from our <unk> you have to manage and my medicine a stylus described as a protest well they have a lot from the people that you work with you especially in offices diverse as the attorney general's office i would like to think i'm an expert on on every area i would be up to speed on absolutely every case was handled by the attorney general's office i know that's not practical there are tremendous

people are currently on staffing and will be on staff of an elected attorney general and you absolutely have to rely on and their good judgment as well as their input in there and their direction so it afforded the chance to work with those people and have been a part of the system and i understand that you value that input and then by getting recognition one way to motivate his art is obviously salaries but there's much more to it than just that in the way that you deal with people in the way that he treated i think we all live in enter office communications i think that's really important and some would suggest is nothing now i think one of the things that also has to happen within the office is an absolute increase in representation by minorities on staff by both at the professional level and that's lawful there's an awful a dearth right now representation by minorities i think that has to change and be reflective of the population across kansas beginning idea that master's in public administration that i think is important my law

degree certainly didn't teach me how an operating officer size of forty million dollars and try to manage two hundred fifty people the masters was cured directly toward that i'm really proud of that additional qualification and i can be good enough to say that i can say today all the changes on remaking the attorney general's office because i don't know how it touches on a day to day basis because i haven't been on staff there and i'm very honest and saying that to suggest what the changes among them eight without being there and seeing how it works i think it's very artificial and increase the wrong impression some ninety nine to say and to make a lot of changes nothing how it operates i am going to tell you know that as soon as i get there i will look and study how things go and decide what we're improvements didn't even what's working well and what we need to keep not everything will need to be changed or someone make those decisions thank you mr while you're listening to the election project a community forum with kansas attorney general candidates richard are engrossed a law kansas public radio but the audience says everyone out there who would like to ask questions and the thoughts we will go back to travel next question comes from mike taylor tate even

one issue that seems to be going his way through the system where in another that the new attorney general will have to play some role in the region as the casino gambling issue on indian reservations the great courage originals taken a position on that day dressed and also you know what is your position on casino gambling on indian reservations and what role we play in this issue as it gets its way through the courts it was taylor and judging from the fact that we're getting short on time as a last question in the mothball this closing statements and this time around <unk> sure if those first official mark hibbs oh my god i used to teach them an indian reservation and you get an opportunity to see the tragedies of the indian culture it is as the crisis over the new coach of the world i would like then to have that opportunity to make some victims of high think that the legislative the federal government has broken me basically said if you have

these games of chance that the indians have the right to work to participate by not just the state whether the voters but that was the case or not that is the case i support the right to run is the end i think the state needs to get out of the way i think the us supreme court has said that my opponent has taken the case that we talked about earlier she lost the case and it's time to get out of the way i'm a really believe that as far as overall casino gambling mistake auerbach i support a national referendum i really believe that the people have the right to make their own decisions i would say yes that position and then as a us attorney joe and the push for the passage of the michigan referendum because i really have faith were all ability of the people of the state to make their own decisions and lead their own lives

that are my overall view of government that the government spends too much time telling people what to do and listening to the people and and determining what the people want all you have to do it was indeed my privilege to argue that case before the kansas supreme court to establish and to clarify what the rights of dealing more in the state of kansas ever since nineteen eighty six when we passed the lottery amendment there had been confusion and much conflict over what indeed was a bit less especially after the advantage in nineteen eighty eight at the indian gaming regulatory act by the federal government it made at the water's substantially is that was my privilege to be able to argue that case to the supreme court we devise on a four three decision it was a very controversial case and the justices themselves is that that indicates were quite divided on what they thought the law was but nonetheless it did establish for all all time what is permitted in kansas based on coraline that is that the native americans do indeed have the right to the kinds of gambling is permitted in the state of kansas that means they have the right to do a lottery they have the right to do peer mutual bingo of

course and they're now casino gambling and that was really the crux of what the cases so i think that we will see continue on with that in this deal to increase that the opportunities for gambling by the native americans what most recently has happened of course to answer your wares at the four tribes of entered into an agreement with the wetlands to get land in trust that scrolling on the women's property than to allow the native americans to have an interest in and be able to have casino gambling on that it appears that everything that i have to be approved in advance a legal kind of agreement to allow casinos for land in trust not just on reservation land and so that's the only way it seems economically that the tribes can benefit from casinos instead of having all four tribes fight over casino gambling have one unified effort that they all can benefit from the devalued that of course is the revenue will go to the state of kansas that as well and the state benefits from it in that way but they wouldn't otherwise and so that's where i think that we'll see casino gambling go in the future thank you most of all you're listening to the election project a community

forum on kansas public radio kansas attorney general chemistry teacher north and crossed over all of this time now for closing state you have too much again i thank national public radio and later when voters for allowing us to talk to the people of the city kansas about a very important office a us attorney general has been under the leadership of the same person for the last sixteen years in and out the first thing i'm going to do is try to get a bill past to limit that two times because i don't believe in term limits in these type of officers because after a while you get to begin it's your office and then you do things the same way that you did yesterday a change i would like to change the way that office runs i would like to change the way that we do things i really believe that most people understand the principle that if you throw more money at things that doesn't get there you need innovation

and that's that's my message is we need to be smarter what we're doing now spend more money and work harder at it i believe we can draw the lines in a community and say we're not going to tolerate a crime inside or individually as we can punish the first time until we get to that point we are never going to reduce crime we tolerate we grow we don't have to i really believe that innovations a lot to bring to the office will save taxpayers money why because they have utilizing are our retirement goals does work of bringing him into sting operations to protect consumers that mean that now that the eighties also instantly kelly can you and avi sure that the individual who tries to rip you off by giving you a point where there is being prosecuted i want to take that state wide but most of all how to take the ag's office and say to the county's one is that i can do for you what we used to have the attorney general's call to provide services to listen as one of the best

things that it was a lesson and provide services business open the da's office i asked for that voters had to give me the chance to do it for the use of this thing you know i have to thank you that inside the opportunity to be heard i appreciate the invitation ideal to bring my background my qualifications to the attorney general's office i have prosecuted all kinds of crimes nonviolent as well as violent crime it is terrible that importers i was lost anytime that happens in the state of kansas are in this nation that's bad it doesn't mean the person who tried the case of them qualified however i would ask voters to look at my entire record before they make adjustments i'm very proud of that record i want every other jury trial that we had down there and that was including debt cases of child sexual abuse cases and he says look at the entire record my plan does not have the opportunity as i mentioned before to prosecuting violent crimes and i think that's an important difference i received the child sexual abuse prosecutor award in nineteen eighty six from the state of kansas

my opponent has not had that opportunity i've kept violent offenders behind bars as a member of the kansas court and my opponent has not done that then a special assistant attorney general for the state of kansas and my opponent has not had an opportunity to have argued many times before the kansas court of appeals and the kansas supreme court i believe that's very important because the attorney general's job will to be argued represent this the state before the united states supreme court shouldn't be attorney general that at least have been or the kansas court of appeals before arguing before the united states supreme court i think that's an important distinction i have run a positive campaign my opponent has not an august the fourth article today september primary in which he said he would conduct a positive campaign because the new voters in kansas were tired of negative campaigning we forgot to say apparently to the newspaper was that he would do write a positive campaign and tell it was behind in the polls because things had changed dramatically he has not offered anything positive in his commercials the assembly spends its time many attacking me i believe i have the broadest base of experienced offer

realistic solutions i have the deepest understanding of the issues in nineteen eighty two when it ran for the house here in wichita it was in nineteen eighty four he wanted to be the district attorney he wanted to be the prosecutor and the voters and sedgwick county said know i asked for the opportunity to be the fourteenth attorney general has changed and you're listening to the candidates in this year's kansas attorney general's race republican calls stovall and democrat richard showed off a recently took part in a forum sponsored by kansas public radio at the central public library at wichita the moderator was gordon basham news director of kbr member station k in uw in wichita technical assistance was provided by came uw chief engineer ross appears a series of election debates was co produced by mary whitehead i make haynes and this is kansas public radio

fb the police board moderator was gordon basham news director of kbr member station kplu w in wichita technical assistance was provided by katie of uw chief engineer loss appears a series of election debates was co produced by terry white haired imam canes and this is kansas public radio

the two candidates vying to replace bob stephens is the state's chief law enforcement officer a republican color stovall and democrat richard showed off stovall is a former crossword county prosecutor who now runs her own law practice in topeka your opponent which it showed off of which it all headed