TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A former southeast Kansas legislator said Monday he feels vindicated by a court ruling that state regulators had no grounds to block his involvement with a dog-racing track in his hometown.
Former state Sen. Jim Barone argued in a lawsuit that the October 2007 decision by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission portrayed him in a false light. District Judge Franklin Theis agreed in a ruling last week in Shawnee County, home to the commission's Topeka offices.
Theis criticized the commission and its former executive director over the commission's public rejection of a background report on Barone and for declining to discuss the reasons. The commission's approval of the report was required for Barone to serve on the board of a supervisory nonprofit group for the now-closed Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac.
"I feel as vindicated as I can be," Barone told The Associated Press. "They had no authority to do what they did."
He said he's never learned exactly why his background report was rejected. The commission and its staff have never discussed the reasons publicly, citing a state law requiring material gleaned from background checks to remain confidential.
Barone sued the commission, the four members participating in the decision against him and the commission's then-executive director, Stephen Martino, who's now director of the Maryland Lottery. Two Kansas commission members named in the lawsuit still serve, Glenn Braun, of Hays, and William Falstad, of Fredonia.
Martino referred questions to the commission. Its spokesman, Bill Miskell, declined to comment, saying it was inappropriate with the case pending. Theis' order called for further hearings to settle the issue of damages. Barone is seeking more than $75,000.
Theis issued his ruling Thursday, concluding the commission's public rejection of the background report on Barone and public statements from Martino that members were acting within their legal authority "caused the false light to shine."
"Here, the commission's action was the equivalent of endorsing a fictionalized account of Mr. Barone's past," Theis wrote in a 40-page opinion.
Camptown opened in 1995 but ran live dog races for less than six months, then again only briefly in 2000. Its affiliated nonprofit group — which under Kansas law oversaw racing and made sure profits were distributed to charity — had hoped in 2007 to bring slot machines to the track but ultimately was unsuccessful. It remains closed.
Barone, a Frontenac Democrat, served in the Senate at the time of the commission's decision against him. He did not seek re-election in 2008.
Theis ruled that state law gives the commission only limited grounds for rejecting a background report, including non-payment of taxes, a felony conviction or a conviction on charges of illegal gambling or fixing races. Theis said in the course of Barone's lawsuit, the commission cited none of those grounds, and its silence about its reasons would "grind" public opinion about Barone "to a firm, but negative halt."
"The Commission members and its executive director had only to read their statute to know the wrong that was being done," Theis wrote.
The commission's decision came amid what Barone described then as philosophical differences with other prominent Democrats, including then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Barone was elected to the Senate in 1996 and eventually became the ranking Democrat on its powerful, budget-writing Ways and Means Committee. But by December 2006, Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat and Sebelius ally, had removed Barone from the budget committee and stripped him of other assignments.
Hensley cited Barone's "leadership style" and refusal to support Sebelius initiatives. Barone said they had political differences and called Hensley's leadership "stagnant."
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The case is James Barone vs. Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission and others, No. 09C001558 in Shawnee County District Court.
Online:
Shawnee County District Court: http://www.shawneecourt.org/
Racing and Gaming Commission: http://krgc.ks.gov/
