SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — The perjury charge filed against the mayor of Shawnee, Kansas, stems from an open meetings complaint she allegedly filed using the name of another person without his permission, a court document shows.
The investigation into Michelle Distler was opened on March 10 after a local government “watchdog” informed Shawnee police that he had received an email from the state attorney general’s office confirming receipt of his online complaint filed under the Kansas Open Meetings Act, according to the probable cause affidavit released Tuesday.
The so-called watchdog, whose name was redacted in the court document, told police he had not submitted the open records complaint and if someone used his information to file one it was done without his authorization.
An investigator with the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office subsequently obtained the IP address associated with the open records complaint and traced it to Distler.
That complaint, which claimed an open records violation over an email chain involving four City Council members and another person, includes a section on the online form declaring under penalty of perjury that the information provided is true and correct.
Police searched her home in June and seized several electronic devices, including an iPad she told investigators was involved in the incident, according to the affidavit.
Distler, 47, was released last week on a $2,500 bond following her arrest. Her first court appearance is set for Jan. 5. Her attorney, Robin Fowler, did not immediately respond to a request Wednesday seeking comment.
Distler told the investigator that she attempted to file the open records complaint online anonymously and had listed the government watchdog’s information so he would get a copy of it as well, but claimed she received an error message when she tried to do so, according to the affidavit.
The mayor said she deleted the anonymous part and kept the other information then left to run errands without clicking submit on her iPad. She later realized that the complaint had been inadvertently sent and contacted the Shawnee City Attorney Ellis Rainey to seek his advice.
According to the affidavit, Distler stated that “I don’t know how it got sent, but it’s my fault. I’m fully responsible for it getting sent.”
The probable cause affidavit also alleges discrepancies with the account Distler gave the investigator when she was questioned about the timing and other details related to filing of the open records complaint.