Topeka ? If having a relative on the office payroll is a government sin, then Atty. Gen. Phill Kline is not the only sinner.

Kline found himself the center of a political tempest last week, after Kansas City, Mo., television station KCTV reported that his office had hired his nephew in January as his driver and special assistant, at $22,006 a year plus benefits.

The attorney general said his chief of staff, Eric Rucker, did the hiring, meaning Kline did not violate the state’s anti-nepotism law. Kline’s critics were skeptical and suggested the hiring looked inappropriate.

Allegations of nepotism are nothing new in Kansas government. In fact, the 1991 anti-nepotism law itself was inspired by Gov. Joan Finney’s hiring of her daughter, Mary Holladay, as chief of staff.

In a state with a relatively small population and an even smaller group of elites, the same business leaders, lobbyists and politicians bump into one another on a regular basis.

Perhaps that is why — while Kline’s detractors gloated and legislators and lobbyists shook their heads — some people active in politics did not think the brouhaha amounted to much.

“It looks to me like a lapse in judgment that deserves a slap on the hand,” said Sen. Derek Schmidt, R-Independence. “It looks bad, but it probably looks worse than it is.”

Relationships abound

Sometimes, Kansas politics seems like a clannish affair.

Marriages involving two government officials abound — one current example is Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon and State Board of Education member Bill Wagnon.

Close relationships sometimes get politicians in trouble.

Kline’s predecessor, Carla Stovall, came under heavy criticism for her 1996 decision to hire her former law firm, Entz and Chanay, to represent Kansas in lawsuits against large tobacco companies, a decision eventually worth $27 million to the firm. She maintained the firm was the only one qualified to handle the job — and did pretty well, with a settlement of $1.7 billion over three decades.

But there’s a specific law against nepotism, thanks to Mrs. Finney’s decision to make her daughter a top aide (although, to prevent a veto of their bill, lawmakers wrote it so that it would not apply to that case).

The law provides that “no state officer or employee shall advocate or cause the employment, appointment, promotion, transfer or advancement to any office or position” a member of his or her household or family.

Also, the law declares that no state officer or employee may participate in an action relating to the employment or discipline of a household or family member.

Justifiable, but legal?

In defending the hiring of the attorney general’s nephew, Rucker noted that he was looking for someone who would work long hours — 60 hours a week — for relatively low pay and be comfortable spending hours around Kline.

And, in politics, loyalty is important to most officials.

“The person driving the car, you want to make sure it’s a confidante of yours and what’s spoken is pretty much left in the car,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka.

Hensley still finds the appointment of Kline’s nephew questionable.

“I could see here that one could justify the decision that was made,” Hensley said. “The question is whether it’s legal.”

Because Rucker did the hiring, Kline appears not have broken the law — and that was the informal opinion that Carol Williams, executive director of the Governmental Ethics Commission, gave reporters when they asked.

As a result, some Republican aides have questioned why the Kline story made such a splash last week.

They have pointed out that GOP legislators were relatively quiet last month when Lt. Gov. John Moore, who also serves as secretary of commerce and housing, named Scott Allegrucci as director of tourism, a job paying $60,000 plus benefits.

Scott Allegrucci is the son of Supreme Court Justice Donald Allegrucci and Joyce Allegrucci, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ appointments secretary. Again, the nepotism law does not apply, because Joyce Allegrucci was not involved.

Always a target

The story about Kline’s office hiring his nephew broke on television, perhaps resonating with people who do not normally follow politics.

And it didn’t help that a copy of the Jan. 15 announcement posted on the attorney general’s Internet site identified the personal assistant as Brad “Kine.” Had it been spelled correctly — Kline — the name might have attracted attention at the time, not four months later.

Nor did it help Kline’s cause that his nephew had lost his driver’s license for a year in June 2000 for refusing to take a test for drugs and alcohol.

Finally, Kline, as a spokesman for conservative causes and a tough campaigner, has made plenty of political enemies who kept the buzz about the story going.

“Phill Kline is going to get beat up if he looks cross-eyed at anyone,” former Atty. Gen. Bob Stephan said.