Kelly’s office asks whether Schmidt’s staff broke attorney-client privilege on sports betting
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A top official in Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s office sent a letter Monday to her Republican opponent, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, seeking his opinion on whether Schmidt’s own office had broken attorney-client privilege in disclosing issues with proposed sports betting regulations from the Kansas Lottery.
Will Lawrence, the governor’s chief of staff, told Schmidt in the letter that the Kansas Lottery did not appear to be aware of the potential issues with the regulations before the Kansas Attorney General’s Office shared that information with the media.
The letter comes after John Milburn, a spokesman for Schmidt, told reporters last week that the Kansas Attorney General’s Office had found “significant legal issues” shortly after Kelly publicly announced Thursday that legal sports betting would begin in Kansas on Sept. 1. On Friday, Milburn released a letter from the Kansas Attorney General’s Office to the Kansas Lottery outlining the areas of concern, which included questions about definitions and whether some regulations were necessary.
Kelly and Schmidt are engaged in a highly competitive race for governor. Kelly is running for re-election and would be the first incumbent governor to win re-election when their party controls the White House since Democrat Robert Docking, who won his first reelection in 1968 when President Lyndon Johnson was in office.
Lawrence, an attorney, wrote that the timing of the disclosures by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office put the Kansas Lottery at a disadvantage because the agency was unable to review legal advice before it was released to lobbyists and journalists.
“I am asking you to review your staff’s conduct and provide an opinion as to whether your office’s sudden desire to communicate its legal advice to the Lottery publicly without the Lottery’s authorization violated attorney-client privilege,” Lawrence wrote to Schmidt.
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office regularly provides legal advice to state agencies. Lawrence said in some cases this creates an attorney-client relationship between the attorney general and the agency.
In response to a request for comment, Schmidt’s office provided a letter from Chief Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Chanay responding to Lawrence’s letter. Chanay wrote that the review process for regulations doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. He said the process is an “arms-length, independent review” to determine if proposed regulations meet the requirements of the law.
“Any statements offered by the Attorney General’s Office as part of the regulation review process do not constitute legal advice but rather inform the agency what the agency must do to secure approval of the proposed regulations,” Chanay wrote.
Cory Thone, a spokesman for the Kansas Lottery, said the Lottery provided revised rules and regulations to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office on Monday morning.
“We appreciate the Attorney General’s office committing to an expedited review,” Thone said in en email.
The Kansas Lottery has previously said it doesn’t expect the regulatory issues to stop the planned Sept. 1 launch date for sports betting.
The Kansas Legislature approved legal sports betting this spring after four years of negotiations. Kelly signed the bill in May. When she announced the launch date last week, the governor hailed sports betting as a “common-sense solution” that would drive dollars to Kansas businesses.
The Kansas Lottery, which will help oversee legal sports betting, is an independent state agency. But the governor appoints its executive director, who must be confirmed by the state Senate. The governor also appoints members to the Kansas Lottery Commission, who are confirmed by the Senate.
The executive director and every current commission member were appointed by Kelly.
This story was originally published August 22, 2022 at 4:51 PM.
