Serving Kansas City (Wyandotte County) Kansas for over 50 years!
Send your news and comments to Wyandotte Daily at [email protected] or [email protected].
Do you have news to share about people, places and events in Wyandotte County?
Or would you like to share a photo or opinion of Wyandotte County?
Send your news and comments to Wyandotte Daily at [email protected] or to [email protected].
Be sure to include your contact information.
A Kansas City, Kan., tax preparer has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for filing false tax returns using the names of prison inmates and others, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Wednesday.
Prayshana Washington, 28, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of preparing false income tax returns and one count of aggravated identity theft.
In her plea, she admitted that from 2012 to 2015 she was in the business of preparing individual income tax returns for clients, who generally paid between $500 and $1,000 for her services. She admitted:
• Filing tax returns for clients containing false claims about dependents, household help income, education credits and American Opportunity Credits.
• Directing the IRS to deposit fraudulent returns onto prepaid debit cards and mail them to addresses she controlled.
• Obtaining names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for prison inmates and preparing fraudulent income tax returns in their names.
Grissom commended the Internal Revenue Service, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask and Matthew Kluge, trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, for their work on the case.
Kansas City, Kan., Municipal Court Judge Maurice Ryan is asking the Unified Government Commission to lift the residency requirement for pro tem judges.
He appeared before the UG Administration and Human Services Standing Committee on Jan. 19 with his request. It would apply to part-time judges who are filling in for the permanent full-time judges when the full-time judges are sick, on vacation or attending meetings.
Judge Ryan asked to amend the ordinance for pro tems to remove the restriction that pro tems be Wyandotte County residents.
The issue is scheduled to go to the full UG Commission for a vote at its meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Commission Chambers, City Hall, lobby level, 701 N. 7th St.
“We’ve had this in effect for quite a long time,” Judge Ryan told the committee last week. “The number of pro tems is limited. The number of attorneys that continue to live in Wyandotte County that are already not employed by a governmental unit is very small.”
He said the Municipal Court spends $10,000 to $11,000 a year on pro tems.
Judge Ryan said in the past month, the Municipal Court has had trouble filling the pro tem slot.
If the residency rule were lifted, it would open it to anyone authorized to practice law in the state of Kansas, Ryan said. Then, the Municipal Court would send out applications to attorneys, and would select from that list.
He said Kansas City, Kan., Municipal Court pays about the norm for pro tem judges. Most are between $50 to $75 an hour. Kansas City, Kan., Municipal Court averages about $50 to $62 an hour for about 2 to 2.5 hours, he said. That compares to Wyandotte County District Court at $30 per hour, which is set by statute, and Leawood city, at $150 an hour, he said.
He said the two Kansas City, Kan., Municipal Court judges took fewer vacation days than they were allotted last year because they couldn’t find anyone to replace them. If this ordinance change doesn’t pass, they’ll take even fewer vacation days in the future, he added.
Of the three names Judge Ryan mentioned of lawyers who are currently serving as pro tem judges, two of them are running for public office, which may affect future availability.
Commissioner Angela Markley, who is an attorney, said the situation is similar to schools which need many substitute teachers on a list in case teachers get sick.
“We have a lot of attorneys in Wyandotte County,” Commissioner Jane Philbrook said. She asked how many were not restricted by the type of work they do.
Judge Ryan said about 10 are available who live in Wyandotte County, and most of them are retired judges. “I’ve asked every retired judge from the district court,” he added.
Commissioner Philbrook said she wanted people to understand that just because there are lawyers who work here, they don’t necessarily live here. She said she appreciated the difficulty of the situation.
“If an attorney can fill their time with a caseload where they’re getting paid to be an attorney, this is sort of a second choice of what you might do with your time,” Commissioner Markley said. Attorneys who live here may be filling their time with more profitable work, she added.
“We are the only city that has a residency restriction on pro tems that we’ve surveyed,” Judge Ryan said.
Commissioner Melissa Bynum said when this first came forward, she had some questions about it, but given the explanation of the smallness of the pool and the fact that attorneys can do other things with their time and make more money, it creates the need to widen the pool of pro tem judges.
Judge Ryan said the average overhead for attorneys, last time he surveyed it, was about $85 to $90 per hour, so that paying them $62 an hour doesn’t cover their overhead if they have an active practice.
“Ed Gillette made a lot more money than $62 per hour, but he did it as a favor to me, and to others,” Judge Ryan said. “He felt a responsibility to Wyandotte County. Those are very few and far between.”
Commissioner Mike Kane said he was uncomfortable with this, because everybody who works at the UG is under the residency rule. But he added he also understands that judges need time off.
He said he would like to try this on a temporary basis, possibly six months, and see if they could reach out to others after the elections are over, and re-evaluate the situation.
“This is a hard pill to swallow,” Commissioner Kane said.
Ken Moore, UG attorney, said there are several ways to do this. Lifting the residency rule can be tried, through an ordinance change, and then a report could be made in six months. As a practical matter, Judge Ryan would want to have attorneys who are familiar with the Municipal Court procedures and practices, he added. Judge Ryan, under a proposed ordinance change, could give emphasis to those attorneys who are residents or to those who have an office in Wyandotte County, Moore said.
Judge Ryan said, if the ordinance is changed, he would compile a list of pro tems that he thinks are qualified. Then, according to the proposed ordinance, that list would be submitted to the UG administrator for approval. The proposed ordinance also gives the administrator the authority to set the compensation of the pro tems.
Judge Ryan said he would prefer someone who lives in Wyandotte County, and second, those who have an active practice in Wyandotte County.
Commissioner Kane said he liked that better.
“We can’t have somebody over here that doesn’t know our people,” Commissioner Kane said, “that doesn’t know what it’s like to work, live in Wyandotte County. I don’t want some yuppie over here telling us farm boys how to do something. I would prefer that we try this on a trial basis, using those, if they don’t necessarily live here, they have an office here. Maybe do that for six months, and see where that goes.”
Instead of calling it a test period for six months, Commissioner Markley suggested just changing it and having Judge Ryan report back in six months on how it’s going, which was the consensus of the group.
Judge Ryan mentioned the names of some attorneys he would like to ask to be pro tem judges, including one district court judge who is retiring soon.