Police investigation into Aquatic Center

Fort Scott Police have finished an investigation into two advertisements regarding a sales tax vote that ran in The Fort Scott Tribune.

Their report was delivered to Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson, who will decide whether to file criminal misdemeanor charges against individuals involved in placing the ad. As of press time, no charges have been filed. Johnson said Monday she had not yet reviewed the report and, therefore, couldn't say whether charges may be filed.

The two ads involved the promotion of a multi-million-dollar aquatic center that would have been funded through a 1-percent sales tax increase. It was defeated during a special election June 5.

One of the ads was a flyer inserted in the May 31 edition of The Tribune. The other was a quarter-page ad in the June 1 edition. The May 31 ad promoted the benefits of the aquatic center. The June 1 ad recognized a list of businesses and individuals for supporting the initiative.

Both ads included a logo urging residents to "vote yes June 5" on the issue. Both ads were created by the Aquavision Committee, a group of residents who worked on development of the aquatic center and sales tax initiative.

One detail was left off the ads, a detail that turned out to be what sparked the police investigation. Neither of the ads identified the committee as the entity that paid for them.

The ads encouraged people to vote for the issue because of the "vote yes" logo. That instantly made them political advertisements, police said.

According to Kansas statute, all political ads must state "advertisement" along with the name of the chairman of the organization responsible for the ad. In other words, the ads lacked the "paid for by (name of person)." The committee took out an ad in the June 4 edition, saying the committee paid for the ad, with Dave Martin the treasurer.

On June 4, Bourbon County Attorney's office requested police investigate the matter after being contacted by an unnamed source.

"The original complaint came from the county attorney's office requesting we investigate a crime that had been reported to our office," FSPD Lt. Shaun West, who investigated the case, said.

Police had to research the issue extensively to search for precedent in prior cases involving alleged corrupt political advertising, he added.

West didn't say whether there was any criminal intent. However, the statute doesn't require any criminal intent, West said.

For example, if a someone loans his car to his uncle and the uncle gets pulled over and can't find an insurance card, there's no intention to do anything wrong, but it's the owner's obligation to see that the car has insurance even if the uncle can't find the card. Investigators separate crimes into two types, acts or omissions. An act requires intent, an omission does not.

Several people who were thanked by name in one of the ads objected to what they said labeled them as "supporters" of the aquatic center. There were accusations that some of the names were listed to elicit greater support for the "yes" vote. However, committee co-convenor Kale Nelson said the ad was meant merely to thank the people and businesses who had helped get the project to a vote.

The police investigation did not cover whether the ads were intended to deceive the public. It focused solely on whether the ads were compliant with the state statute, West said.

"No other parts of the advertisements were under investigation," West said. In other words, police did not look into whether the creators of the ad tried to influence voters. Police also didn't investigate whether those names supported or did not support the sales tax initiative.

West said police spoke to anyone involved in any "way, shape or form" in the publishing of the ad, which was composed and designed before delivery to The Tribune for publication. West interviewed several Tribune staff members and Aquavision Committee members during the investigation.

Fort Scott Tribune Publisher Julie Righter said the newspaper cooperated fully with the investigation and awaits the results of the probe.

If there are charges, they'll be class "C" misdemeanors that typically do not carry severe penalties.