Johnson County government is locked in a dispute over whether Sheriff Cal Hayden can independently bring litigation against an Overland Park man accused of making hundreds of harassing phone calls to sheriff’s office deputies and employees.
The county this week asked a Johnson County judge for permission to intervene in the lawsuit brought by the sheriff against Leonid Khayet, who according to the court records called the sheriff’s office 503 times during the last four months of 2022.
During that same time frame, the sheriff’s office said that Khayet sent 381 emails to 21 deputies. Khayet didn’t identify a crime or a needed response from law enforcement or other emergency crews in any of those calls, court records show.
The sheriff is seeking a temporary restraining order and an injunction that would limit Khayet’s contacts with the sheriff’s office under certain situations.
However, the county filed a motion to intervene in the case, arguing that it has legal authority to bring any civil lawsuit.
Court records show the sheriff objects to the county intervening in the lawsuit, and a spokesperson didn’t respond to two emails seeking comment Thursday.
The county commission voted to intervene in the case last month, and a spokesperson declined to comment at that time.
The county filed its motion to intervene in the case this week, shedding light on its course of action, which questions the legal power of the sheriff to bring civil lawsuits.
Last year, Hayden spoke to the Constitutional Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association about his ongoing vote fraud investigation that has gained statewide notoriety because it has failed to yield any results.
The organization claims that “the law enforcement powers held by the sheriff supersede those of any agent, officer, elected official or employee from any level of government when in the jurisdiction of the county.”
A spokesperson last year told The Kansas City Star that Hayden was not a member of that group and it was not known on what basis Hayden believes he would have the power to bring a lawsuit as the sheriff.
The sheriff has hired the firm of Fisher Patterson Salyer & Smith to bring the civil lawsuit. It was not known how much the firm was being paid to handle the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, the county argues in its court filing that it has the vested authority to bring a civil action and should be permitted to intervene and work with the sheriff in the case.
While the sheriff has the power to oversee his staff, there is nothing under state law that allows him to bring a civil action on behalf of the county, Johnson County Counselor Peg Trent argued in her court filing.
“The sheriff’s department is an agency of the county and is not itself capable of suing or being sued,” Trent argued in the county’s brief.
“Any civil action by or against the sheriff will always be an action in which the county is interested because any suit against the sheriff is a suit against the county.
“Likewise any lawsuit by the sheriff – in his or her name of office – must be for the benefit of the county. Therefore, a lawsuit brought by the county on behalf of the county must be brought by and in the name of the county…”
The motion notes that the county counselor is required to prosecute and defend any civil lawsuits in which the county has an interest.
“Because the sheriff has brought this action in his official capacity, it is the equivalent of an action by the county,” Trent wrote in her motion.
“The county therefore seeks to join the sheriff as a plaintiff to set this action on all fours with the statutory framework,” the county government argued.
