As Phill Kline prepares to become the state’s next attorney general, a Leawood couple is working to ensure that lawyers around the state watch him like a hawk – literally.

Carl and Lauren Helmstetter are developing a nonpartisan organization called Hundreds of Attorneys Watching Kline, HAWK for short. And although the grass-roots movement is in its infant stages, its mission is becoming clear: to make sure Kline does his job, and only his job.

“I think that there’s a concern that he is going to advance his particular political and religious agenda,” said Lauren Helmstetter, a Leawood attorney. Carl Helmstetter is an attorney in Kansas City, Mo.

Kline, a Republican who narrowly defeated Democrat Chris Biggs in the November election, did not return phone calls, but local Republicans found the organization premature or even vindictive, pointing out that Kline had yet to take office.

“Sour grapes,” said Jim Mullins, state president of the Kansas Republican Assembly, voicing doubt that the organization was truly nonpartisan. “That’s probably what it is more than anything else.”

HAWK will serve as a clearinghouse for information about Kline’s activities, Helmstetter said. Attorneys around the state can report information to the organization, which will post it on a Web site along with descriptions of where it can be verified.

Friends of HAWK – an organization for people who aren’t attorneys – also is in the works, and Helmstetter hopes the group eventually will distribute information to the media and educate the public regarding the attorney general’s role.

The organization is especially important from an educational angle, said Doni Slough, a Lawrence attorney who knew Helmstetter in law school and recently learned about the group.

“Most of the public isn’t aware of the things that go on in the AG’s Office,” she said.

Slough named one issue she expected to be of concern: abortion.

“That would be the one that comes to my mind instantly,” she said.

¢ Kline claims victory in close AG race (11-12-02)

When he declared victory, Kline repeated his campaign vow to enforce state restrictions on late-term abortions, which he says do not include a mental-health exception.

The current attorney general, Republican Carla Stovall, has interpreted the law to allow a mental-health exception.

But Kline has never done anything to warrant formation of a watchdog group, Mullins said.

And he didn’t think Kline would try to push his views on abortion “more than any other attorney.”

A former state legislator from Shawnee, Kline also was criticized during his campaign for lack of legal experience.

The Bush administration considered Kline last year for U.S. attorney for Kansas, but Kline withdrew his name to run for attorney general.

During the primary race, Kline’s critics suggested he was forced to withdraw over some undisclosed problem. Biggs didn’t give up on that line despite a statement from the White House that it had been pleased to receive Kline’s name in nomination.

Perhaps an even bigger campaign issue was Kline’s letting his law license lapse three times.

Kline has said he let his license expire briefly in 1994 by mistake. It lapsed again for eight months in 1996 and 1997 and for 17 months in 1999 and 2001 when Kline pursued other ventures, including an unsuccessful 2000 run for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

Kline critics say there were differences between what Kline posted on his Web site and what he said on the campaign trail, and HAWK will work to highlight the discrepancies.

“Now that he’s in office, we think that he needs to operate in the light of day,” Helmstetter said.

Although HAWK has yet to publish a phone number, Helmstetter said she had received several calls from people interested in the organization.

She said she hoped to have a Web site launched and mission statement prepared by the time Kline takes office in January.