TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Republican attorney general declared Monday that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration lacked the legal authority to impose what some experts see as the nation’s most aggressive policy for collecting state and local taxes on online sales.

Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature called on Kelly to rescind the state Department of Revenue policy immediately after they received a legal opinion from Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

But the department’s top administrator, Secretary Mark Burghart, a veteran tax attorney himself, said in a statement that the department is obligated to follow its current course unless told otherwise by the courts. He maintained that that the agency is only trying to enforce existing Kansas tax laws in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year allowing states to collect sales taxes on internet sales.

“The Department of Revenue cannot select which laws it enforces,” Burghart said.

The department issued a notice Aug. 1 saying any “remote seller” doing business with Kansas residents must register with the department, collect state and local sales taxes and forward the revenues to the state, starting Tuesday.

Most states now have policies to collect such taxes, but almost all set minimum annual sales or transaction thresholds to exempt small businesses, according to groups tracking tax laws. Tax experts said Kansas was the first to attempt to collect the taxes on online sales without exempting any businesses.

Diane Yetter, founder of the Sales Tax Institute in Chicago, said she has been advising clients outside Kansas not to register with the state before Schmidt issued his legal opinion. In August, she called the department’s move “insane,” and she said Schmidt has “set it up for the taxpayer to win” a legal dispute with Kansas.

“I think the department would be remiss in not withdrawing the notice,” she said.

Schmidt said Kansas law does not give the department the authority to impose such a policy through a notice, without a public hearing or review by officials outside the department. He said the policy “has not been lawfully adopted and is invalid.”

“The last thing Kansans want is to be on the hook for more costly lawsuits,” Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Kansas City-area Republican, said in a statement calling on Kelly to cancel “what appears to be an unlawful tax mandate.”

It’s the second time within three months that Schmidt has questioned a Kelly administration policy. In July, he threatened to go to court to block a Department for Children and Families policy allowing several thousand adults to keep receiving food assistance after failing to meet a work requirement. Kelly dropped the policy the next day.

State officials have felt some pressure to collect more taxes from online sales to prevent Kansas businesses from facing a competitive disadvantage. The Department of Revenue has estimated that the state would collect between $20 million and $40 million a year in additional tax revenues, and Burghart said about 600 out-of-state businesses have registered with Kansas since Aug. 1.

Legislators included provisions on taxing Internet sales in two GOP tax-cutting bills this year, but Kelly vetoed both measures, saying they would destabilize the state’s finances.

The Department of Revenue imposed its policy under an existing tax law that applied to out-of-state businesses but wasn’t enforced because court decisions had prevented it. Its officials argued that it was trying to enforce existing tax laws fairly and consistently, without overstepping its legal authority by exempting some business and not others.

“The notice does not reflect a change in policy, but only restates long-established statutory provisions regarding the duty to collect and remit Kansas taxes,” Burghart said.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned a previous ruling that states could not collect their sales taxes unless a business had a physical presence within their borders. It upheld a South Dakota law requiring businesses to collect its taxes if they had $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in the state within a year.

Schmidt said it’s “reasonable to conclude” that some threshold is required for a state to avoid violating the U.S. Constitution by burdening interstate commerce too much.

“You still have to have substantial activities,” Yetter said.

But Schmidt focused his opinion more on the technical question of whether the Department of Revenue can set policy with a notice and concluded it could not. If the agency had tried to issue a formal administrative rule, it would have been required to have a public hearing and outside agencies, including Schmidt’s office, would have reviewed the proposed policy.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has issued a legal opinion declaring that a new and aggressive state policy for taxing online sales is invalid.

Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature immediately demanded Monday that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly require the Department of Revenue to rescind the policy.

The department issued a notice in August saying any “remote seller” doing business with Kansas residents must collect state and local sales taxes and forward the revenues to the state, starting Tuesday. It cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year allowing states to collect such taxes.

The GOP attorney general said the department didn’t have the authority to impose such a policy through a notice.

Legislators included provisions on taxing internet sales in two tax-cutting bills this year, but Kelly vetoed both.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY —One person died in an accident during a chase by law enforcement just after 2p.m. Monday in Leavenworth County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Chevy Tahoe driven by Anthony Dorsey, 29, Kansas City, was westbound on Interstate 70 attempted to flee law enforcement.

The driver made a U-turn prior to the eastern entrance toll plaza. While traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes, a 2017 Subaru driven by Nathan Pena, 19, Brookfield, IL., made an evasive maneuver to avoid the Tahoe. The Tahoe collided with the Subaru in the north ditch.

Pena was pronounced dead at the scene. Dorsey was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

Authorities have not released details on what prompted the chase and possible charges against Dorsey.

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for forcing two Christian college students to perform sex acts on each other after they violated curfew and were locked out of their southwest Missouri campus.

49-year-old Robert Hyslop was sentenced last week for first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of first-degree kidnapping.

Charging documents say the College of the Ozarks students fell asleep in a commuter parking lot in October 2018 because the campus’ front gate was locked when they returned after curfew.

The documents say Hyslop made the man and woman drive to a highway lookout, where he forced them into sex acts at gunpoint. Hyslop also is accused of making the woman touch him sexually. He was on probation at the time for a drug conviction.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas  woman was sentenced to 12 months and a day in federal prison Monday for her role in crashing a car into a Cabela’s store to steal guns, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Brenda Tosh, 28, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to steal guns from a federally licensed firearms dealer.

In her plea, she admitted that she and a co-defendant crashed a car into a Cabela’s store in Kansas City, Kan. They took long guns from the firearms section of the store and placed them into a shopping cart. According to court records, the guns included two 12-gauge shotguns, a .22-caliber rifle, a .308-caliber rifle and a .223-caliber rifle.

Law enforcement officers arrived and arrested Tosh before she could leave the store. The co-defendant was arrested later, after fleeing the store and stealing a car from a nearby dealership.

Co-defendant Kyle Mendez, 29, Kansas City, Kan., is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 26.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a criminal homicide that left a man dead.

Just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a shooting call at Magoos Bar and Grill located in the 2300 block of S. Oliver in Wichita, according to officer Kevin Wheeler. Upon arrival, officers located the scene of a shooting, but no victim was located.

Shortly after, the victim identified as 29-year-old Demario Cooks of Wichita arrived by private vehicle at an area hospital with critical injuries and later died, according to Police Captain Brent Allred.

The preliminary investigation has revealed that the Cooks was inside the bar attending a birthday party, and a disturbance occurred between several other men. They moved into the parking lot, and multiple shots were fired, striking the victim.

Investigators have identified one individual who was at the scene. Police located him at a residence in the 1100 Block of North Pershing in Wichita, according to Allred. He had a gunshot wound to his arm and was taken to the hospital for medical treatment.  Police investigators are working to contact others who were at the scene.

This was not a random incident. It the 22nd criminal homicide in Wichita in 2019, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to contact police.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a criminal homicide that left a 29-year-old man dead.

Just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a shooting call at Magoos Bar and Grill located in the 2300 block of S. Oliver in Wichita, according to officer Kevin Wheeler. Upon arrival, officers located the scene of a shooting, but no victim was located.

Shortly after, the victim from the shooting arrived by private vehicle at an area hospital with critical injuries and later died, according to Wheeler.

The preliminary investigation has revealed that the victim was inside the bar, and a disturbance occurred between several other men. They moved into the parking lot, and multiple shots were fired, striking the victim.

This was not a random incident. Police have not identified the victim or reported an arrest.

Anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to contact police.

BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new charges after a weekend arrest.

Just after 4p.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to the Super 8 Motel, 911 Grant Street in Great Bend in reference to a suspicious subject on the property, according to a media release.

Upon Officers arrival, they made contact with the subject later identified as 35-year-old Leroy Bowers inside the business. He initially provided officers with a false name. Officers were able to identify Bowers, who was wanted on five warrants. Bowers was placed under arrest, and found to be in possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

Bowers was transported to the Barton County Jail, where he was booked and confined on his five warrants, along with his new charges.

He has previous convictions for burglary, theft and obstruction, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. He had been out of prison since December 2017.

 

UPDATE 2 p.m. Monday

INDEPENDENCE — Police reported just after 1 p.m. Monday that a cougar on the loose after escaping from the zoo has been captured. According to a social media media report from the Independence Police Department, the animal is safely back in its enclosure.

Authorities have not released details on the escape or where the animal was found. There have been no injuries reported.

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INDEPENDENCE (AP) — Officials at a southeast Kansas zoo say a cougar is on the loose after escaping from the zoo.

The cougar escaped Monday morning from Riverside Park and Ralph Mitchell Zoo in Independence.

The zoo said in a news release that park officials and police officers are searching for the animal. They urged citizens to be cautious and not approach the cougar if they see it.

Details on how the cougar escaped have not been released.

Independence is about 113 miles southeast of Wichita.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has opened a review of options for expanding Medicaid in Kansas with warnings against work requirements and a limited expansion.

Kelly gave opening remarks Monday at the first meeting of a council she appointed to provide the Republican-controlled Legislature with policy guidance ahead of next year’s expected debate on the issue.

Kelly said she wants the council to develop “guiding principles” for lawmakers. She described work requirements and a limited Medicaid expansion as ideas that haven’t worked well in other states.

The governor took office in January pushing to expand the state’s Medicaid health coverage for as many as 150,000 additional residents. An expansion plan passed the House, but conservative GOP leaders blocked it in the Senate, expressing concerns about its potential costs to the s

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a child and have made two arrests.

Just after 11a.m. Sunday, police responded to a residence in the 1100 Block of Munnell in Wichita where a two-year-old boy was not breathing, according to Captain Brent Allred. Despite efforts by police, fire and EMS crews, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators found the child had extensive bruising all over his body. This led to the arrest of the boy’s mother Stephanie Avilas, 24, for alleged aggravated child endangerment and her boyfriend Bernardo Gonzalez-Mejia, 31, Wichita for alleged child abuse, according to Allred.

The mother had called 911. She was on an errand and not home at the time and the boyfriend had contacted her about the child not breathing. Gonzalez-Mejia and the 2-year-old were home alone at the time of the incident.

An autopsy is scheduled to determine the cause of death. That will determine if additional charges will be filed, according to Allred. He did not release the boys’s name.
Two other children in the home a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl are in police protective custody, according to Allred.

There was one report from the Department of Children’s Familes in 2015 on the family. It did not involve abuse, according to Allred.

DONIPHAN COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) confirmed that the man injured Sunday, Sept. 22, during a fight at a party in Doniphan County has died from his injuries.

According to a media release from the KBI, Jason W. Pantle, 42, of Cummings, died Saturday at the University of Kansas Medical Center where he was being treated for head injuries following an altercation with other party attendees. He was transported by a family member to a residence in the 1600 block of Jayhawk Dr., in Atchison, where police and EMS were called around 4:20 a.m. Sunday morning. The injured man was transported by EMS to a local Atchison hospital. He was later transferred to a Kansas City area hospital where he remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Then, on Wednesday evening, Sept. 25, KBI agents served several search warrants and arrest warrants connected to the case. At 6 p.m., 44-year-old Scott A. Vandeloo, of Atchison, was arrested at 1712 Prairie View Rd. in Platte City, Mo. He was arrested for aggravated battery, and booked into the Platte County Jail.

At approximately 7 p.m., 22-year-old Brian A. Spillman Jr., of Atchison, was arrested for aggravated battery after surrendering at the intersection of Mineral Point Rd. and Monument Rd. in rural Doniphan County. Then, at around 8:30 p.m., Matthew C. Scherer, 30, of Atchison, was arrested for aggravated battery when he surrendered at the Doniphan County Sheriff’s Office at 219 S. Main St. in Troy, Kan. Both Spillman and Scherer were booked into the Leavenworth County Jail.

Assisting in these arrests were the Atchison Police Department, the Doniphan County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Platte County Sheriff’s Office. The Doniphan County Attorney is expected to prosecute the case.

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DONIPHAN COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) made three arrests Wednesday evening related to a fight that occurred at a weekend party in Doniphan County.

The KBI was requested by the Doniphan County Sheriff’s Office to assist in investigating a confrontation that occurred at a party at 159 Monument Rd. in Doniphan County on Sunday, Sept. 22.

During the overnight party, a 42-year-old white male received serious head injuries during an altercation with other party attendees. He was transported by a family member to a residence in the 1600 block of Jayhawk Dr., in Atchison, where police and EMS were called around 4:20 a.m. Sunday morning. The injured man was transported by EMS to a local Atchison hospital. He was later transferred to a Kansas City area hospital where he remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Then, on Wednesday evening, Sept. 25, KBI agents served several search warrants and arrest warrants connected to the case. At 6 p.m., 44-year-old Scott A. Vandeloo, of Atchison, was arrested at 1712 Prairie View Rd. in Platte City, Mo. He was arrested for aggravated battery, and booked into the Platte County Jail.

At approximately 7 p.m., 22-year-old Brian A. Spillman Jr., of Atchison, was arrested for aggravated battery after surrendering at the intersection of Mineral Point Rd. and Monument Rd. in rural Doniphan County. Then, at around 8:30 p.m., Matthew C. Scherer, 30, of Atchison, was arrested for aggravated battery when he surrendered at the Doniphan County Sheriff’s Office at 219 S. Main St. in Troy, Kan. Both Spillman and Scherer were booked into the Leavenworth County Jail.

Assisting in these arrests were the Atchison Police Department, the Doniphan County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Platte County Sheriff’s Office. The Doniphan County Attorney is expected to prosecute the case.
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By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Flash flooding has closed several roads in northwest Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Transportation reports while much of northwest Missouri has seen chronic flooding and road closures throughout the spring and summer, flash flooding is closing more roads.

MoDOT says its crews are closely monitoring road conditions. Several sections of roadway in northwest Missouri have been closed due to high water.

MoDOT points out flash flooding can close a road quickly and it can be reopened on short notice once water recedes from the pavement.

Motorists are warned not to drive through water over the road. According to MoDOT, it takes only 6 inches of water to lose control of a vehicle and possibly get swept away from floodwaters.

For more on flood conditions, click here for the MoDOT flood information page.

SALINE COUNTY —Investigators with the Saline County Sheriff’s Office have determined an incident Friday morning in rural Saline was not an attempted child abduction.

A newspaper carrier had gotten out of his car to put a newspaper in a box next to a drive Friday morning and gave a quick wave to an 11-year-old boy who had been waiting for a school bus, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.

The boy ran off yelling and the man got back into his car and continued his rounds. The boy talked to the bus driver who then notified authorities.

The man talked to his wife later and told her of the incident. The wife of the newspaper carrier later heard the description of the man and his car in news reports and called the Sheriff’s Office.

The newspaper carrier had been following the school bus while making deliveries in the area. The Sheriff’s Office interviewed the man and determined there was no attempted abduction and closed the case.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Two Omaha residents face an involuntary manslaughter charge following a May shooting death of a Kansas man in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

A grand jury returned indictments against 25-year-old Jonathan Echtinaw and 23-year-old Carissa Lynn Kendall for the death of 18-year-old Ethan Edgar.

According to police, Edgar was behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle parked in a gas station lot at South Main and 9th Avenue in Council Bluffs. Echtinaw and several others were looking for it.

Two individuals in separate vehicle confronted Edgar. They parked in front and back of the stolen car. When Edgar tried to ram the two vehicles, the driver of one of the vehicles fired a number of shots, hitting Edgar twice.

Police say Edgar drove from the scene with the other two giving chase. Kendall was driving the car during that chase.  Edgar lost control of the vehicle at the intersection of South Main and 5th Avenue and struck a tree. He died later at the hospital.

If convicted, Echtinaw and Kendall both face up to two years in prison. They are both scheduled for arraignment on Oct. 4 with a jury trial scheduled for Nov. 12.