ATTORNEY GENERAL TESTIFIES AGAINST SHERIFF

Shawnee County Sheriff Dave Meneley still faces ouster, although five
charges against him are thrown out of court.

TOPEKA -- Attorney General Carla Stovall testified Tuesday during the
ouster trial of Shawnee County Sheriff Dave Meneley that she didn't
ask the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to look into drugs that turned
up missing from the department in 1996.

Stovall said she thought Meneley was conducting his own investigation
of the department.

The trial is a civil proceeding in Shawnee County District Court to
determine whether Meneley will be removed from office. It is scheduled
to resume Feb. 1.

Last May, Stovall filed a petition to remove Meneley from office,
alleging 13 counts of willful misconduct or moral turpitude.

Judges Matthew Dowd and Richard Anderson on Monday dismissed five
counts alleging Meneley improperly requested information from criminal
records.

The judges said they needed more than "suspicion" that Meneley used a
restricted computer database for non-law enforcement purposes before
they could remove him from office.

The eight remaining counts are linked to cocaine missing from the
sheriff's department.

The ouster trial is one of three cases involving Meneley, who has
served as sheriff for seven years. Stovall also has filed 20 criminal
charges against him, including counts of theft, misuse of public funds
and personal use of campaign funds.

Meneley also faces two counts of perjury. Those charges relate to
testimony he gave last year during a hearing in a drug case, in which
he said he did not know a deputy had used drugs.