Haywired
Deb McCoy
Perpetrators: Shared Services of the Bourbon County IT Department that involves both the County Courthouse and the City Hall
Unethical Actions: Wiretapping, and Breach of Privacy that includes County and City Offices of City and county officials and associates.
Timeline: 2022 to present
Victims: Bourbon County/City Citizens, employees, and anyone else who contacts the County or City by telephone or email.
City and County Officials Who Are Aware of this activity:
– Sitting County Commissioners
– County Counsel and Bourbon County Prosecuting Attorney
– County Officials and County employees
– Sitting City Managers, past, interim and present
– Sitting City Commissioners – Sitting City Attorney
– City Employees
– Citizens who have been involved in observing and taking an interest in the local government activities.
Agencies that have been contacted regarding the unethical activity:
– County Prosecutor
– Local Sheriff
– Kansas State Attorney General’s Office
– Kansas State Ethics Department
– Kansas State Office of Research
– FBI
Action that has been taken: – Ongoing
Consequences of the above unethical behavior:
– Employees are avoiding City/County email/ phone conversations by using direct employee communication or private phones.
– Parties calling into the Bourbon County/City Hall are not made aware that their conversations are being recorded and therefore are innocent bystanders in the scheme of the unethical actions.
– Employees are not taking actions due to fear of retaliation and losing their jobs.
– Loss of elected and non elected employees who reported the actions, and became the target for doing so.
– Citizen mistrust, due to the action and inactions of those employees and officials in office.
– Citizen mistrust in employees and officials, who do not want to follow the Rule of Law and State Statutes, Policies, Procedures, Ordinances and Resolutions.
– Citizens in the community who do speak up are publicly shamed.
The Rule of Law does not oppress you. It gives you the Freedom in knowing the boundaries. Where as a community are we going to be, if this unethical behavior continues with our elected officials and city/county employees?