Sedgwick County commissioners have voted unanimously to provide emails and leadership study documents to the U.S. Attorney’s office for an investigation into county government.
Commissioners agreed to waive attorney-client privilege and provide the documents. One of them is an email response from former county counselor Eric Yost to commissioner Dave Unruh on a matter involving county manager Michael Scholes. Commissioners recently voted to accept Scholes’ resignation. Unruh said the U.S. Attorney’s office already has the email and other documents.
The FBI has been conducting an investigation after commissioners Richard Ranzau and Jim Howell alleged that the county manager was targeted for dismissal because he provided information to the FBI on a case involving commissioner Michael O’Donnell. Commission chairman David Dennis has denied the allegations, and he, Unruh and O’Donnell have called for investigations into personnel matters. Dennis said the county has been open and transparent with the ongoing investigations, and he said “I’m not afraid of anything that might come up as a result of any kind of investigation.”
O’Donnell is scheduled for trial in federal court next year on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. He is accused of taking money from his campaign finance accounts for personal use.
Howell raised concerns with waiving attorney-client privilege and he feels there could be a risk that information from the documents may be leaked out to others, but he supported the vote to provide the documents to the U.S. Attorney.
