Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Wednesday that he has obtained all the necessary permits for a building he recently put up on his 160-acre farm in Douglas County and said news reports about the controversy were blown out of proportion.

“I am amazed that this is a story,” Kobach said, referring to a story first published by the Topeka Capital-Journal. “Person requested permit. Person is told he needs another permit. Person requested other permit. Person received other permit.”

The issue involves farm property in Lecompton Township that Kobach purchased last year.

Jim Sherman, director of the Douglas County Zoning and Codes Department, said the issue began last year when Kobach applied for a permit to put up a building on his property to store farm equipment.

In Douglas County, he said, a property owner does not need a permit or zoning approval to put up an agricultural building, as long as the person signs an affidavit saying it will only be used for agricultural purposes and that the building will not be habitable. The applicant also has to submit tax records showing a profit or loss from agriculture-related activity on the property.

But if the building contains 800 square feet or more of habitable area, Sherman said, Douglas County requires a residential building permit.

Kobach said he was told by the Morton Buildings company, as well as the subcontractor who installed the building, that it would qualify as an agricultural building, even though he was constructing space inside that could be used for office space.

When the building was completed this spring, Sherman said, Kobach asked for an inspection so he could get the building hooked up for electricity.

“The inspector saw partitions that had been framed, as well as some interior wiring and plumbing,” Sherman said. “That created some suspicion that this wasn’t fully an ag building.”

“I have no intention to use it as a residence,” Kobach said. “That’s why the recommendation of Morton and the subcontractor seemed pretty appropriate because I have no intention of residing in it. As soon as Douglas County suggested that in Douglas County it’s different, I immediately requested a residential permit.”

Sherman confirmed that Douglas County regulations are stricter than most other counties and that Kobach’s building would have qualified as an agricultural building almost anywhere else in Kansas.

Sherman said the county did not issue a citation or levy a fine. Officials merely told Kobach that he needed to apply for a residential permit. He said that permit was officially issued Wednesday.