Former Republican state Rep. Carl Maughan of Colwich is seeking to return to the Kansas Legislature despite legal troubles that included being charged twice with drunk driving within three months and being suspended from practicing law for a year.
Maughan on Saturday announced on Facebook that he plans to run this year for the House District 100 seat that is now represented by House Speaker Dan Hawkins, who is running for insurance commissioner. Maughan previously represented District 90.
Acknowledging that he had abused alcohol because of “major emotional upheaval ” in his personal life, Maughan said he had accepted responsibility for his actions.
He pleaded no contest to driving under the influence stemming from a traffic stop in Topeka in March of 2024.
He also pleaded no contest to driving under the influence following a 2024 Memorial Day weekend crash in Colwich that left him seriously hurt.
Maughan abruptly announced on social media that he would not seek reelection following the Sedgwick County crash on May 25, 2024.
His name remained on the ballot for the 2024 primary and he finished with 5% of the vote. The election was won by Republican Steve Huebert.
The DUI charge in Sedgwick County arose from a single-vehicle injury accident in Colwich at the intersection of West 29th Street North and 151st Street West at about 7:30 p.m.
The Republican lawmaker said in an interview that he was seriously injured in the May 25, 2024 car wreck.
He said he spent three days in an intensive care unit. He said he fractured his sternum, broke nine ribs and suffered a concussion.
In an interview at that time, Maughan blamed his legal troubles on personal and family strife.
He said he had abstained from drinking alcohol for more than four months and has been attending group meetings during that time.
He said he had been attending personal counseling and has entered into intensive alcohol treatment.
“I recognized that I conducted myself poorly, I have accepted my responsibility for my actions, I have learned from the mistakes and done the work to put myself in position to do better for me, my family and the state of Kansas,” he wrote.
“My background, experience and skills still equip me to make a positive impact in the Legislature, but I have also gained empathy and humility, which will serve me well in the Legislature,” he wrote.
“My family, the people of Kansas and I deserved better and I am committed to doing better,” he wrote.
“I have accepted responsibility for how I reacted and I have spent significant time and resources working to resolve the issue and focusing on personal, professional, and spiritual growth,” he wrote.
In an interview Saturday night, Maughan said he thought voters would be forgiving.
“I kind of took a hard, left turn and ran into some pretty difficult things and chose the wrong coping mechanisms and went down the wrong path,” he said.
“I think the voters, if you’ve gone through an honest process of self assessment of taking responsibility and fixing the problem which I have, I think human beings are willing to say, ‘OK,'” he said.
“I’ve got the skills and the background and the knowledge and ability to do the job. I just kind of ran into a brick wall on some things in my personal life, and now I’m fixing that and trying to move forward,” he said.
Maughan said he hasn’t had a drink since the day of the May 25, 2024 crash.
In 2024, the Kansas Supreme Court suspended Maughan from practicing law for a year because of violating rules of professional conduct.
Maughan faced a suspension after being accused of misconduct while representing a client in a deadly 2016 crash in Wichita that claimed two lives.
The court also required the former Colwich lawmaker to undergo a hearing before his petition for reinstatement will be considered by the Supreme Court.
Maughan said he is in the process of trying to get reinstated to practice law.
“All of that is in progress,” he said. “The wheels of justice turn slow.”
Maughan had been accused of having a conflict of interest in a court case because he represented the two occupants of a vehicle involved in the crash who accused each other of being at the wheel when it occurred.
The court found that he violated parts of the professional conduct code that barred him from representing a client if it involved a concurrent conflict of interest and prohibited him from entering into a business transaction that is adverse to a client.
Maughan was accused of misconduct while representing Bret Blevins in the deadly crash while also serving as the longtime attorney for his girlfriend, Tammy Akers, who also was in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Court records show that Akers and her husband had paid Maughan $30,000 to represent Blevins.
Blevins and Akers were the sole occupants of a Cadillac Escalade which sped through a residential neighborhood, ran a stop sign, and crashed into a van, killing two people.
The Kansas Court of Appeals found that Maughan’s representation in the case “hinged on him serving two masters whose interests were clearly adverse to each other.”
In its final report, a panel of the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys said that Maughan was dealing with multiple professional and personal struggles that contributed to his misconduct.
The report said Maughan had lost his longtime legal assistant and eventually his only associate attorney, leaving him as a solo practitioner by the time of trial.
Further, his case load was significantly increased due to his agreeing to accept around 200 appeal matters from the State Board of Indigent Defense services.
Also, his wife was deployed overseas for one year during this time, leaving him to care for their two children on his own while at the same time he was running for a district judge position, building a new house and moving his family to a new home.
Court records show that Maughan had been previously disciplined on two occasions, once in 2007 and again in 2010. He was placed on diversion in both cases, and those matters were later dismissed.
