Perry-Lecompton board OKs architect contract

Voters in the Perry-Lecompton school district will be asked to approve a bond issue in November to build a new middle school and an addition to Lecompton Elementary School.

The combined cost of the projects is estimated to be $10 million, Supt. Steve Johnston said Tuesday.

Perry school board members approved a contract with Lawrence-based GLPM Architects to design the projects on a 5-1 vote Monday night. Board member Tom Holroyd cast the dissenting vote.

The district would pay GLPM about $600,000 — or 6 percent — of the $10 million bond project for architectural and engineering fees.

If approved, about $9 million of the money would go toward constructing a new fifth- through eighth-grade middle school. The proposed middle school would be connected to the Perry-Lecompton High School. About $1 million would be used for the Lecompton Elementary School addition, which would include two kindergarten classrooms and a gymnasium.

Courts

Lawrence resident to be tried in rape case

A judge on Tuesday ordered a 36-year-old Lawrence man to stand trial on charges of raping his family’s 13-year-old baby sitter.

In a preliminary hearing in District Court, the girl testified that she had sex with the man four times starting in early May.

Judge Paula Martin found there was probable cause to try the man on four counts of rape, two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy.

Martin said she would wait to schedule a trial until prosecutors had time to file an amended complaint.

Under Kansas law, having sex with someone under 14 is automatically classified as rape.

The Journal-World normally does not identify suspects in sex crimes unless they’ve been convicted.

Bail bonding

Law-enforcement officials attend bill signing

Local law-enforcement officials met with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Tuesday for the ceremonial signing of a bill that aims to “de-thug” Kansas’ bail-bonding industry.

Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney, Assistant Dist. Atty. Brad Burke and Lawrence Police Detective Dave Anderson attended the signing of Senate Bill 299 in a morning ceremony at Sebelius’ office in Topeka.

The law prohibits people with a felony conviction in the past 10 years from working in the bonding business, and it requires bondsmen or women to notify police before they try to apprehend a bond jumper.

The local officials were asked to attend the ceremony because they’ve been involved recently in cases related to abuses in the bonding business.