Topeka ? Attorney General Paul Morrison isn’t sure he’s rounded up all copies of the patient records obtained from his predecessor’s investigation of two abortion clinics.

But Phill Kline said Friday that Morrison continues to “unnecessarily frighten women” rather than seriously review evidence of potential crimes involving the clinics.

Morrison is most concerned about records of 90 patients Kline obtained before leaving office Jan. 8. Kline acknowledged in a statement that some records were copied but said a Shawnee County district judge supervising his investigation kept track of them.

Morrison said he retrieved most of the material from several sources, including a special prosecutor Kline appointed but Morrison fired. Morrison, an abortion rights Democrat, defeated Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, in November.

However, Morrison said he isn’t sure he has retrieved everything, including material from patients’ files at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Johnson County. Kline is now that county’s district attorney – a position Morrison had held.

Morrison said one assistant attorney general will review all the records to determine whether any doctors or other parties should be prosecuted. He said he asked Kline a week ago whether he had any records and, if he did, to return them. He said Kline did not reply.

“We don’t know exactly what we’ve got,” Morrison told reporters.

Morrison said the records had been “strung out to three or four different places that we know of.”

“Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the prior administration chose not to leave any of the records here or give any of them to us,” Morrison said. “They should be here. That’s a big concern, and where they’ve gone is a big concern.”

Peter Brownlie, Planned Parenthood’s chief executive officer, said Kline was “cavalier” in handling sensitive documents.

“It’s become abundantly clear that he’s a zealous politician and not fundamentally a law enforcement officer,” Brownlie said. “I’ve had no confidence since Kline’s office received those records three months ago that they would be protected and handled appropriately. Who knows who has pieces and parts?”

In a statement, Kline rejected suggestions that documents, including patient records, had been handled carelessly. He noted the Shawnee County judge’s oversight of his investigation. But Kline’s statement didn’t say whether he had possession of any copies.

“It is another example of comments Mr. Morrison makes without knowledge that are irresponsible,” the statement read in part. “Every medical record is accounted for and with the court, and the court has always been advised of the location of all files and any copies of those medical files.”

Kline’s pursuit of patients’ records sparked a two-year legal battle with Planned Parenthood’s clinic in Overland Park and a clinic in Wichita operated by Dr. George Tiller, who is among a few doctors in the nation performing late-term abortions. Sixty files came from Tiller’s clinic and 30 from Planned Parenthood.

The Shawnee County judge subpoenaed them in 2004 at Kline’s request, but copies, edited to remove information identifying the patients, weren’t turned over to him until October 2006.

During his campaign against Kline, Morrison repeatedly criticized Kline for pursuing the records, saying it invaded patients’ privacy. After the election, Morrison said he would review the evidence Kline gathered and decide whether it warrants any prosecutions.

“I can assure you if the state laws are being violated, we’ll prosecute,” Morrison said.

He said he retrieved some documents from the Shawnee County district attorney’s office, others from the judge and many from the special prosecutor, whom Kline appointed in December to handle a potential criminal case against Tiller.

Kline filed 30 misdemeanor criminal charges against Tiller in December in Sedgwick County District Court. He alleged that Tiller performed 15 illegal late-term abortions in 2003 on patients aged 10 to 22, and failed to properly report details of the procedures to state health officials.

However, a judge dismissed those charges at the request of Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, also a Democrat. The judge agreed with her that Kansas law required Kline to get Foulston’s consent to file a criminal case in Sedgwick County and he didn’t.

Kline’s special prosecutor asked the Kansas Supreme Court to reinstate the charges. Tiller’s attorneys say the allegations are unfounded.

As attorney general, Kline didn’t file any charges involving Planned Parenthood, but abortion rights activists have expected him to pursue in investigation in Johnson County. But Brownlie said evidence Kline gathered as attorney general should have remained in that office’s possession.

And Brownlie said, “He has yet to produce anything resembling evidence of crime with regard to our services.”

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On the Net:

Attorney general’s office: http://www.ksag.org/index.shtml