The case involved a stepparent adoption petition filed by M.S., the husband of A.S., seeking to adopt A.S.’s children B.T.M. and E.A.K.M. over the objection of their natural father, J.R., who refused consent and asserted his parental rights. The district court terminated J.R.’s parental rights under K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 59-2136(h)(1)(F) on grounds that B.T.M. was conceived as a result of rape and under subsection (G) based on J.R.’s failure to perform parental duties for E.A.K.M. for two consecutive years, then granted the adoption. On appeal, the court affirmed, holding that the statute applied under the facts presented and that substantial evidence in the record supported both the rape finding for B.T.M. and the two-year failure of parental duties for E.A.K.M.
Three landowners challenged Wyandotte County’s reclassification of six parcels near Lake Quivira from agricultural to vacant use for 2006 and 2007 tax years, which raised their property-tax assessments; the county had initially sent March 1 notices for some parcels but later changed three to vacant after inspections, and it classified all as vacant in 2007. The Court of Tax Appeals upheld the vacant classification for both years, ruled the county could not alter the 2006 values after the initial notices, and allowed the 2007 increases. The Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that substantial evidence supported the non-agricultural classification, the county had missed statutory deadlines for 2006 changes, and documented evidence of vacant status plus the consolidated appeals process supplied the substantial and compelling reasons needed under K.S.A. 79-1460(a)(2) to raise valuations in 2007 without constituting retaliation.
The case concerned whether Johnson County Sheriff Frank Denning properly terminated Deputy Michael Maurer for violating the department’s truthfulness policy after Maurer cracked a patrol car windshield by throwing a notebook at a horsefly, then provided incomplete and misleading accounts in both verbal statements and two written reports. The Civil Service Board found the termination unreasonable and ordered reinstatement with lesser discipline, but the district court reversed that ruling and upheld the firing. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that substantial evidence supported the sheriff’s conclusion that Maurer had intentionally falsified or omitted material facts about the incident, thereby breaching the policy’s prohibition on false statements or failures to disclose information in the performance of duties. The majority also rejected challenges to the board’s procedures and scope of review as either unpreserved or harmless.
J.A. Tobin Construction Company sued to set aside a 2008 tax sale of its vacant Kansas lot, claiming the county failed to provide proper notice after years of unpaid taxes and a nuisance cleanup assessment. The district court upheld the sale to Sherman Williams, finding that service by publication was sufficient because the county had no reasonable way to locate Tobin’s address. The Kansas Court of Appeals reversed, holding that publication service violated due process and rendered the sale void. The court reasoned that once the county learned Rosedale Development (Tobin’s predecessor) was a forfeited Missouri corporation, a quick search of the Missouri Secretary of State’s website would have revealed the 1985 merger and Tobin’s address, making personal service reasonably possible and required.
In Jewett v. Miller, plaintiffs Jewett and Caffey were injured in a car accident after their vehicle struck a horse owned by defendant Miller that had escaped from its enclosure on his farm. They sued Miller for negligence, claiming he failed to properly inspect and maintain the fence, which allowed the horse to get onto the highway. The trial court granted summary judgment to Miller, and the appellate court affirmed. The court reasoned that the evidence showed Miller regularly inspected the fence, made repairs when needed, and had no prior escapes, with no evidence presented that he breached his duty of care; it also held that evidence of post-accident repairs was inadmissible to prove negligence under Kansas statute.
In State v. Rollins, Shannon Rollins was convicted by a jury of theft, a severity level 9 nonperson felony, after evidence showed he used forklifts to load two pallets of aluminum forms from his employer Wall Ties into a van on July 31, 2008, which were never recovered. The district court sentenced him to 11 months’ imprisonment. On appeal, Rollins challenged the conviction on grounds including lack of substantial competent evidence for alternative means of theft under K.S.A. 21-3701(a)(1) (obtaining or exerting unauthorized control), improper admission of a timesheet and daytime surveillance video testimony without proper foundation or discovery compliance, dismissal of the jury outside his presence, and cumulative error. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the evidence supported the theft charge under either means, the video testimony had adequate foundation based on personal knowledge, the timesheet was properly admitted, and no errors occurred that warranted reversal.