The Star files suit over secret agreement to keep paying ex-Independence police chief
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Star sued to force release of a resignation agreement tied to Dustman.
- The petition says the city failed to respond to The Star’s April 2 Sunshine Law request.
- A separate lawsuit was filed by Maj. Mike Onka alleging details of the resignation deal.
The Kansas City Star has filed a lawsuit against the City of Independence after officials refused to release a resignation agreement that has kept former police chief Adam Dustman on the city payroll after he resigned.
The lawsuit, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court on May 18, seeks to compel city officials to release the agreement tied to continued payments to Dustman after his August 2025 resignation.
The Star had filed a records request seeking the agreement on April 2 but did not receive a response.
“Despite these statutory obligations, the City has not responded to The Star’s April 2, 2026 Sunshine Law request, has not given a detailed explanation of why it has not provided the records, has not provided the place and earliest time and date that the records will be available for inspection, and has not provided the requested records,” the petition said.
The Star previously reported that Dustman has been paid at least $61,000 since resigning, and the city said it was part of a resignation agreement that could not be publicly disclosed, citing Missouri open records law exemptions in a request for comment on the story, but never directly responded to the open records request.
City officials said in a statement on Tuesday that they have not been served a petition for the lawsuit and declined to comment.
Public records law
The petition argues the agreement is not exempt from disclosure. It also states that The Star’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes, sent a letter to the city on April 16 arguing officials had violated Missouri’s Sunshine Law by failing to respond to the records request.
“Our readers have a right to public information, and The Star will fight any unlawful efforts to hide it from them,” The Star’s executive editor, Andale Gross, said. “Public officials should know that. The question is, what’s the big secret here? The Star will do all it can to find out.”
Rhodes’ letter argued that the exemptions cited by the city do not apply to the resignation agreement and that the document should be released under Missouri law.
“The City continues to ignore The Star’s repeated warnings and has continued to fail to respond to The Star’s April 2, 2026 Sunshine Law request,” the petition said.
Complaints at the Independence police department
Multiple lawsuits have been filed by Independence Police Department officers since the start of the new year, with many citing problems within the department under Dustman.
One of those lawsuits, filed by Major Mike Onka, provides a small amount of detail into the resignation agreement between Dustman and the city.
In the lawsuit, Maj. Mike Onka, a 25-year veteran officer, alleges that former City Manager Zach Walker entered into the agreement with Dustman, “in order to attempt to conceal information known by the Chief of Police which implicated the City Manager in the mismanagement of the Police Department by the Chief of Police.”
The lawsuit also alleges that due to the agreement, Dustman “can still take action” against the Police Department employees.
