By MEG WINGERTER

Kansas lawmakers have struggled since 2015 on whether to investigate alleged discrimination against same-sex couples in the state’s foster care and adoption system.

Now some think they’ve hit on an answer: Ask people working in the foster care system if they think the issue needs a deeper look.

Rep. Jarrod Ousley, a Merriam Democrat, has asked the Legislative Post Audit Division to conduct a survey about potential bias against same-sex couples in child placement decisions.

Read the audit proposal from Rep. Jarrod Ousley.

In 2015 and 2016, members of the Legislative Post Audit Committee declined other requests for audits of possible adoption bias in the foster care system.

The survey Ousley has requested would ask lawyers appointed to represent children’s interests in child welfare cases if they have seen discriminatory treatment in a case and whether they believe the Legislature should investigate the issue.

Rep. John Barker, an Abilene Republican and chairman of the Legislative Post Audit Committee, gave Ousley’s request preliminary approval, according to an email from audit staff. The survey and limited-scope audit would require an estimated 100 staff hours, so it would be automatically approved at the next Legislative Post Audit Committee meeting unless the other committee members ask for a vote.

Barker said he doesn’t know if same-sex couples have been treated unfairly in child placement cases, but he said a survey could settle the question or show lawmakers they need more information.

“I thought, ‘Well, that’s an interesting question and I don’t know the answer to it,’ and that’s why we have audits,” he said.

If the survey finds that lawyers working on child welfare cases think a larger audit is worthwhile, their views might resonate with committee members, Ousley said.

“If they come back and say, ‘Yes, it’s a good idea,’ maybe it would be a little more persuasive than a lawmaker or two asking for it,” he said.

Ousley and other members of the House Children and Seniors Committee forwarded a bill this session to create a task force that will recommend improvements to the foster care system. The House approved the bill but it awaits Senate action.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families oversees the foster care system, and two contractors operate it. In recent years, record numbers of children have entered the state’s foster care system, raising concerns among social service advocates and some legislators.

In April 2016, DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore submitted a letter to the post audit committee stating that the department and its two foster care contractors have no formal policies related to same-sex couples. She said DCF reviewed its training materials, internal memos and other policy documents but found no information about sexual orientation.

Kasey Rogg, deputy general counsel for DCF, told a legislative Special Committee on Foster Care Adequacy in November 2016 that the department doesn’t discriminate against same-sex couples.

“There is no policy that takes into account those issues. It’s not an issue,” he said.

The issue came up in late 2015 when lawmakers set the questions for a three-part audit of the foster care system, which post audit staff recently finished.

Rep. Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, had asked that a question about potential discrimination against same-sex couples be included, but other members of the Legislative Post Audit committee elected not to pursue it.

Ward referenced the case of a baby who was being raised by a lesbian couple in Wichita but then was placed with Jonathan and Allison Schumm, a Topeka couple raising some of her siblings.  The Schumms later were charged with abusing another child in their home but reached a diversion agreement, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

A 2013 court ruling in Johnson County also alleged DCF had conducted a “witch hunt” against a lesbian couple seeking to adopt a child while allowing heterosexual parents with more serious past offenses to adopt.

Meg Wingerter is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @MegWingerter. 

ANDERSON COUNTY –Two people died in an accident just before 3p.m. Friday in Anderson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Lexus GX driven by Stephen Bauer, 75, Baldwin City, was southbound on U.S. 169 one mile north of Colony.

The driver lost control of the vehicle. It crossed the center line a Mack truck.

Bauer and a passenger Allison Bauer, 57, Baldwin City, were pronounced dead at the scene.

The truck driver Zachariah E. Breen, 27, Wellsville, was transported to the Anderson County Hospital.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man who fatally stabbed a student on the Wichita State University campus 40 years ago has died.

Leonard Bell attacked 19-year-old Julie Ladd on May 15, 1977, when she interrupted him as he was trying to steal money from the coin-operated laundry machines in her basement dormitory.

Bell already was serving a life term in Colorado for a 1981 killing when he was linked to Ladd’s death seven years later. A Sedgwick County judge imposed a similar sentence for Ladd’s slaying and ordered it be served consecutively to the Colorado case.

A Kansas Department of Corrections spokeswoman says Bell hadn’t yet begun serving the life term he received for Ladd’s stabbing when he died last month in a Colorado prison. He was 62.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former Haskell Indian Nations University student will not be tried a third time on charges of raping another student.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday it would not retry 22-year-old Galen Satoe.

Satoe and 21-year-old Jared Wheeler were charged with raping a 19-year-old Haskell freshman in November 2014 in their dormitory room. The men maintained the encounter was consensual.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Satoe’s two previous trials ended in mistrials on most of the charges.

The Douglas County attorney said it did not expect a different outcome in a third trial without more evidence.

Wheeler’s one trial ended with a hung jury in June 2016. He then pleaded no contest to aggravated battery and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years’ probation.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa will pay $6.5 million to settle discrimination lawsuits filed by former athletic administrator Jane Meyer and her partner, former women’s field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum.

The school agreed in settlements released Friday to pay Meyer $2.33 million, Griesbaum $1.49 million and $2.68 million to the Des Moines law firm that represented them.

Jurors this month found that school officials discriminated against Meyer based on her gender and sexual orientation, retaliated against her for speaking out and paid her less than a male counterpart- Gene Taylor.

They awarded $1.45 million in damages in what advocates for women in college athletics called a landmark verdict.

The settlement avoids a June trial in a lawsuit brought by Griesbaum, whose firing by athletic director Gary Barta was center to both cases.

In 2014, Barta hired Gene Taylor to take over some of Myer’s responsibilities. Taylor is the new Athletic Director at Kansas State University.  On Taylor’s first day at Iowa, Barta fired Griesbaum.

-The AP contributed to this report.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — A man has been re-sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting another man in 2009 after an altercation hours earlier.

The Emporia Gazette reports that Jimmy Dominguez apologized Thursday when he was sentenced for second-degree murder in the killing of Jose Leyva. Dominguez blamed drinking and said he wasn’t in his “right mind.” Another man was wounded but survived the shooting, which followed a wedding dance and party.

The re-sentencing came after years of delays, brought on by a cancer diagnoses, a 2010 mistrial and the reversal of his 2011 conviction because of jury instruction mistakes.

Dominguez is receiving palliative care after radiation treatment failed. He’ll serve the remainder of his sentence at the infirmary at the Lansing Correctional Facility.

SEDGWICK COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a home invasion robbery and asking the public for help to locate suspects.

Just after 2:30 Thursday police were dispatched to a home in the 2200 Block of Piatt In Wichita for report of a robbery, according to Friday’s media briefing.

A 67-year-old man arrived at the residence and found his 70-year-old brother with a head injuries.

A suspect had forced his way into the home and a blue Porsche Cayenne was missing, according to police.

Officers later found the car on North Minnesota Street. In injured victim was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, according to police.

Police did not released information on what was taken from the vehicle or if it was damaged.

GEARY COUNTY – One of two Kansas teens injured in an accident just before 4p.m. Monday has died.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Ford Explorer driven by Dayton A. Bilyeu,18, Milford, was northbound on U.S. 77 eight miles north of Junction City.

The SUV crossed the center line, entered the west shoulder, traveled back to the east, began to roll, hit a guard rail, and continued to roll down an embankment.

Bilyeu was transported to Geary Community Hospital.  His sister, a passenger in the SUV Katelynne A. Bilyeu, 15, Milford, was transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital where she died.

Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

Junction City Principal Melissa Sharp sent the following to JCHS parents:

It is with heavy heart that I write this note today. This morning, we had a sophomore student, Katelynne Bilyeu, pass away. Katie was involved in a single car accident after school this week, which led her to be transported to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City.

Today, I spoke to her mother, father and brother by phone, and as they prepare the funeral, they want to thank all of you for your outreach and support over the last few days. Services are pending at this time, but they believe they will occur on Monday or Tuesday. It will be an open ceremony, with all staff and students invited. When we receive more details, we will communicate the specifics through our District Communications office.

Katelynne has a senior brother, Dayton. It was the desire of the family to have Dayton at graduation practice on Friday, and for him to participate in the Saturday commencement event. They believe this is what his sister would have wanted. I would ask all of you reading this note make an effort to lift him, and his family, up this weekend.

I would also ask that you check on your own student and how they are responding to Katelynne’s untimely death. Our district crisis team is on site for our students; and we will continue to offer counseling support for as long as you believe your student needs the service.

Please let me know how we can further support your needs.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators put off a debate on delaying tougher regulations for amusement parks following the death of a young girl injured at a Wichita carnival.

The House had been scheduled Friday to debate a bill delaying the new rules for a year until July 2018. Lawmakers approved the tougher regulations last month in response to the death of a colleague’s son on a waterslide last summer.

The new law requires annual inspections of rides by qualified inspectors or certified engineers. The state Department of Labor sought a delay over concerns that some operators couldn’t comply by July.

But the Wichita Eagle reported Friday that the family of a 15-month-old girl issued a statement through a local hospital that she had died after being critically injured at a carnival May 12.

Friends and family established a Gofundme account to assist the child’s family.

By STEPHEN KORANDA  

Heavy rains early Friday flooded some Statehouse offices and displaced some of the researchers who work for Kansas lawmakers.

Maintenance staff and members of the Kansas Legislative Research Department worked Friday to clean up and sort through water-damaged books and documents in the ground-floor offices.

Raney Gilliland, director of the department, said a 10-inch pipe that carries rainwater from the Statehouse roof failed during the storm.

“With the deluge that we had last night, this collar broke and all of the water from the roof ended up in (our) office,” he said.

Water cascaded down onto books, a desk and file cabinets in one of the offices. The water then flooded adjacent offices and nearby parts of the building.

The nonpartisan department conducts research and compiles documents for legislators, including the financial estimates connected to spending proposals.

This may be an especially inopportune time for the flooding to occur. Lawmakers are wrestling with tax and budget issues as they work to end the session, and members of the research staff provide information that they use when making those decisions.

“We’re always busy, but we’re very busy right now trying to help the Legislature make its final decisions,” Gilliland said.

The offices of at least seven staff members were affected. They moved Friday to temporary workstations.

“I think the Legislature will not notice any change in our work. We’re pretty adaptable,” Gilliland said. “We have lots of hands on deck down here.”

Gilliland said he doesn’t yet know a cost to repair the damage. The Statehouse underwent $300 million in renovations that were completed toward the end of 2013.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for kcur.org, a partner in the Kansas News Service.

PRATT COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Pratt County are investigating an accident involving someone reportedly jumping from a vehicle.

Just before 6:30 a.m. Friday, a call came into Pratt County Emergency Dispatch of a “naked woman” on the side of the Highway 54 one mile east of Cullison, according to a media release.

Units from the Pratt County Sheriff’s office, Pratt County EMS and Kansas Highway Patrol responded and found a 44-year old woman on the north ditch bleeding from injuries that she sustained from jumping from a moving vehicle.

She was transported to the Pratt Regional Medical Center for treatment.

No additional details were released.