Ethics commission accuses legislator of misusing funds

? A Johnson County legislator faces her second ethics complaint in five months, this one accusing her of misusing campaign funds.

Her attorney said Thursday her problems are more fallout from an abusive relationship.

The complaint before the Governmental Ethics Commission accuses Rep. Patricia Kilpatrick, R-Overland Park, of mingling campaign funds with personal funds, converting campaign funds to personal use, failing to report contributions and failing to keep detailed campaign finance records. She could face $120,000 in fines.

The commission has scheduled a hearing in her case for Dec. 13. In June, it fined her $4,000 after concluding that she had filed an inaccurate finance report for her 2004 campaign, and she has paid $600 of the penalty, the commission said.

In that first case, Kilpatrick said she had made mistakes in the wake of her escape as a mother of two from an abusive relationship. On Thursday, her attorney, Scott Hattrup, of Olathe, said Kilpatrick’s former fiance had gained access to her campaign accounts and had stolen money from her.

“He was basically acting as her business manager,” Hattrup said in an interview. “He conned her into giving him the ability to control her campaign account.”

Kilpatrick, first elected two years ago, was a vocal supporter of a law enacted this year to impose a minimum 25-year prison sentence on offenders who prey on children. She decided not to seek a second term after taking a job with a Florida criminal justice foundation, only to give it up after a few weeks.

The latest complaint against her contends she violated laws designed to keep candidates from converting campaign funds to personal use. The incidents occurred between January 2005 and February 2006.

The complaint didn’t give specifics about the alleged violations, and Donna Voth, the commission’s attorney, declined to discuss the case because it is pending.

It is the latest in a slew of problems for Kilpatrick.

In May, she signed a one-year diversion agreement with Overland Park Municipal Court over her arrest for shoplifting $214 in merchandise from a SuperTarget store, court records show.

Records also show multiple complaints against her in the last several years for writing bad checks and owing back rent. Last month, Johnson County District Court ordered the state to garnishee her legislative paycheck after The Source, a campaign consulting firm, won a $5,000 judgment against her.