ANDERSON COUNTY — The Anderson County Review reports that Anderson County attorney Brandon Jones doesn’t plan to file criminal charges against the person who paid for anonymous election postcards in a hotly-contested spring election on a $25 million bond issue to build a new hospital. The Review reports postcards opposing the bond issue were sent to local residents, but were illegal because they had no tag line identifying who paid for them. Jones says he tracked down the printing company that supplied the postcards, and when the printer refused to name the person who paid for the postcards, Jones got a search warrant and got the identity. Jones says he talked to the person, who didn’t realize the mailing was illegal. Because the bond issue passed and the mailing had no significant impact on the outcome, Jones says the county and taxpayers are better served by education rather than prosecution. He says the person could face penalties from the Kansas Ethics Commission. Jones says he also investigated complaints of campaign violations by bond issue supporters, and he says most complaints weren’t valid.
Updated 6/30/13 @ 8:30 pm
