When the State dismissed its misdemeanor case against Bourbon County Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee in late June, Senior Judge Merlin G. Wheeler’s order set Monday at 1 p.m. in Fort Scott for a first appearance and preliminary examination in the case the Kansas Attorney General’s office told the court it would refile. Five weeks later, no new case has been filed, and the Monday hearing, with no case to attach it to, never made it onto the court’s schedule.
Asked whether the hearing was going forward, the Bourbon County District Court clerk’s office replied by email Monday: “There is no hearing today. The case was dismissed.” Court staff confirmed by phone that nothing has been refiled and “there was nothing scheduled for today.”
At a June 26 pretrial conference, Senior Judge Merlin G. Wheeler denied the State’s eve-of-trial motion to add a felony Intimidation of Voters count to the two misdemeanors Milburn-Kee had faced since March. The State then dismissed the case without prejudice, telling the court it intended to refile all three charges together under a new case number. The judge’s written order, filed June 27, set the Aug. 3 date for the anticipated new case.
That case has not appeared. In Kansas district court records pulled Monday morning, a party search — run both for Bourbon County and statewide — shows no new case against Milburn-Kee. Nothing has been docketed in the dismissed case since the June 27 order. The Attorney General’s office, where Assistant Attorney General Olivia R. Higdon is prosecuting the case, has not publicly explained the delay. When FortScott.biz called the office July 27, a staff member said the only thing the office could share was that the matter was under “prosecutorial review.”
Whether and when the State will refile are open questions. One constraint is the calendar: Wheeler ordered that dismissing and refiling does not restart the speedy-trial clock, which he dated to April 15. Under Kansas’s speedy-trial law, K.S.A. 22-3402, a defendant who is out on bond must be brought to trial within 180 days of arraignment, not counting delays the defense causes — by that measure, roughly mid-October.
All of the charges stem from an Oct. 25, 2025 incident at the county commission room while it was being used as an early-voting polling place. The dismissed case charged interference with the conduct of public business, a Class A misdemeanor, and disorderly election conduct, a Class B misdemeanor that on conviction would mean forfeiture of office under K.S.A. 25-2432. The proposed third count, Intimidation of Voters, is a severity level 7 nonperson felony.
A charge is an accusation, not a finding of guilt, and Milburn-Kee, who has pleaded not guilty, is presumed innocent unless and until a jury decides otherwise. FortScott.biz will report when a new case is filed or a new hearing is set.