Turns out Dorothy Gallaway isn’t responsible for more than $18,000 in unpaid Topeka parking tickets  the fault lies with her 25-year-old Lawrence grandson, the executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party.

The director, Chris Gallaway, also has been sued in Douglas County six times between 1998 and 2001 for writing bad checks and failing to pay his credit-card bill.

He lost each case, and on at least three occasions a Douglas County judge ordered the Kansas Democratic Party to garnishee Gallaway’s wages to satisfy the judgments.

Gallaway, 25, acknowledged the tickets and bad checks Wednesday.

“I’ve accepted full responsibility for that,” he told the Journal-World. “It’s definitely a personal matter and not a party matter. I accept full responsibility for my actions in the past and am working to resolve them.”

The city of Topeka filed suit last month in Douglas County District Court against Dorothy L. Gallaway, 628 R.I., in an effort to collect the money. The fines cover violations racked up at parking meters during a two-year period, officials said.

Chris Gallaway said Wednesday that the car was titled to both him and his grandmother, Dorothy. He said he had resolved the case.

“I’ve settled with the city of Topeka,” he said. “The suit was dismissed today. I promised never to do that again, accumulate parking tickets.”

There was no indication of a settlement in court records late Wednesday, and Topeka officials were unavailable for comment.

“I apologized profusely to my grandmother,” Gallaway said. “Though her name was in the paper, the only thing she did wrong was to have a stupid grandson.”

Tom Sawyer, chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party, said he and Gallaway usually let interns and other lower-level party employees use the party’s two parking spaces in a Topeka parking garage. Gallaway will now use one of the spots, Sawyer said.

Neither Gallaway nor a lawyer ever showed up in court the previous six times he was sued:

 Long John Silver’s sued him in 1998 for two bad checks worth a total of $17.69. A judge initially awarded the restaurant $397.77, including damages, and later ordered the party to garnishee $542.79 from Gallaway’s wages.

The same store also was awarded $427 last year for two more bad checks totaling $21. Again, the Kansas Democratic Party was ordered to garnishee Gallaway’s earnings.

 Dillons grocery store at 1015 W. 23rd St. was awarded a $224 judgment in 1998 for a bad $25 check Gallaway wrote.

 Intrust Bank was awarded $1,005 in 1999 for Gallaway’s unpaid credit-card bill. The party was later ordered to garnishee $1,076 from his wages.

 The Mojo Experience was awarded $776 in 1999 for four bad checks Gallaway wrote totaling $71.

 Manhattan Check Service was awarded $260 in 2000 for a bad $5.72 check Gallaway wrote to a coffee shop.

Gallaway wouldn’t explain Wednesday why he never appeared in court, but he said he was wrong not to take care of his debts.

“I was young and stupid … and I didn’t get them taken care of when I needed to,” he said.

Gallaway dismissed the notion the tickets and bad debts would have any bearing on his work, which entails running the day-to-day business at the party headquarters.

“It’s completely a personal matter, a personal issue,” he said, “and it doesn’t reflect on my ability to do party work.”

Sawyer agreed.

“He’s made mistakes like a lot of people do, and he’s taking care of it,” Sawyer said. “He’s done a very good job for the party, and he’ll continue to do so.”