Winona ? The chairman of the Logan County Commission admitted to a newspaper that he illegally set out prairie dog poison on land he farms.

Commissioner Doug Mackley told The Hays Daily News he used the poison Rozol early last week, 11 days after the federal cutoff date. He was not repentant, though.

“I screwed up. That’s all there is to it,” Mackley said. “They won’t take care of their damn prairie dogs, and they invaded my field.”

Mackley was referring to Lillian and Donald J. Becker, whose pasture is next to the field where Mackley placed the poison.

The Beckers are among the defendants in a lawsuit filed by the County Commission, which is seeking to force some landowners to move cattle off pasturelands so prairie dogs can be poisoned.

Two complaints were filed last week with the Kansas Department of Agriculture. One deals with Mackley’s use of Rozol past the allowable date, and the other with allegations of illegal above-ground bait stations in Logan County.

The Beckers filed the complaint against Mackley on Wednesday, two days after they saw him in the field on an all-terrain vehicle.

Mackley said he plans to plant corn on the field and does not want the crop attacked by prairie dogs.