INDEPENDENCE ? The Attorney General’s Office began considering Wednesday the removal of Montgomery County Sheriff Jack Daniels, after the county attorney called for his ouster.

Atty. Gen. Phil Kline’s office and Montgomery County Atty. Bill Cullins confirmed ouster proceedings had been urged for Daniels’ removal, but offered few details.

“Based on increasingly bizarre actions I have observed, I requested the attorney general’s office to become involved and file an ouster petition,” Cullins told the Independence Daily Reporter. He would not elaborate and a call seeking further comment was not immediately returned.

Jan Lunsford, a spokesman for Kline, confirmed a letter had been received from Cullins on Wednesday afternoon. He said the letter called for the start of proceedings to remove Daniels, but would not offer further details on the reason or the process that would follow.

Officials would not confirm whether Daniels had been temporarily removed after the call for ouster proceedings, but a receptionist in the office of Montgomery County Clerk Charlotte Scott-Schmidt said Scott-Schmidt was sworn in Wednesday as acting sheriff. Scott-Schmidt did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

By law, the county clerk replaces the sheriff if that office becomes vacant.

Daniels lost his re-election bid Aug. 3 to retired Kansas Highway Patrol Lt. Stan Veach in the Republican primary election. Veach now faces Democrat Rick Pell in the Nov. 2 general election.

Daniels’ term runs through January.