OTTAWA–Senior Judge John Sanders agreed Monday afternoon to requests from attorneys for the Ottawa Herald and Kansas City news media to open documents relating to the ouster of Sheriff Jeff Curry. In his ruling, Sanders said there was a delicate balance between the needs of law enforcement and the public’s right to know. However, Sanders ruled that there was no right more compelling than that of the public to know why ouster proceedings were filed against Curry. Curry’s attorney and another attorney sought to keep a third person’s name removed from the documents but Sanders refused that request as well. In the documents released this afternoon, a federal confidential informant described purchases of methamphetamine by then county attorney Heather Jones. The documents say that Curry was informed of the purchases and referred them to the US District Attorney’s Office. However, the documents say that Curry lied that he wasn’t having a sexual relationship with Jones. That was the basis of the criminal charges against Curry. Sanders approved a one-diversion agreement for Curry, which includes the condition that he surrender his law enforcement certification and that he never seek employment as a Kansas lawman. If he completes diversion, the charges will be dropped against Curry. Special Prosecutor Todd Hiatt of the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office, says he is working out an agreement with the attorney of Deputy Jerrod Fredricks and plans to drop charges against Fredricks.
Updated 4/1/13 @ 4:15 pm
