Democratic Representative John Carmichael, of Wichita, is seeking to return responsibility for prosecuting election crimes to local prosecutors rather than the Kansas Secretary of State's office. The Legislature approved a statute in 2015 giving prosecutorial powers to the Secretary of State's office. Representative Carmichael says only about ten cases have been prosecuted.
Carmichael's bill doesn't change what is considered an election crime in Kansas but would take the prosecutorial power away from the Secretary of State and return it to local authorities.
