2nd District Atchison Co Commissioner John Calhoon/Credit: Atchison Co

 

(KAIR)--An Atchison County commissioner facing a legal effort to remove him from office is fighting back in court, accusing the county attorney and sheriff of weaponizing the legal system against a political adversary.

According to a filing in Atchison County District Court, attorneys for Commissioner John Calhoon filed a response Friday to a motion for judgment on the pleadings brought by Atchison County Attorney Sherri Becker. The response asks the court to deny Becker's motion and allow the case to proceed to discovery.

Becker originally filed the petition against Calhoon in March, then filed an amended petition in May. Calhoon's attorney argues in the filing that Becker significantly scaled back the original petition after turning over 96 pages of documents in response to a Kansas Open Records Act request. The filing alleges those documents show the case was driven not by legitimate public concern, but by Atchison County Sheriff Jack Laurie, whom the filing describes as a political adversary of Calhoon's with a history of using litigation against opponents.

Calhoon's legal team raises several defenses, including that the state statute used to pursue the case is unconstitutional, that the action is barred by the statute of limitations, and that the case is tainted by what the filing calls unclean hands due to the sheriff's alleged involvement.

The filing argues that because Calhoon has raised multiple defenses, the court cannot grant judgment on the pleadings at this stage, and that discovery must be allowed to proceed before the merits of the case can be fully argued.

At issue is whether or not Calhoon can legally hold two county offices at once, including that of commissioner and Jackson County Undersheriff.

The case remains pending in Atchison County District Court.