Senate majority leader running for Attorney General

Clay Center Dispatch

Ryan D. Wilson, News Editor

August 31, 2010

A state Senator who helped write Kansas' newest laws now wants to enforce them as the next Kansas Attorney General.

Derek Schmidt, currently the Republican majority leader in the Kansas Senate, was an assistant attorney general in the Consumer Protection Division before he ran for the senate.

"I've been in public safety for most of my career," he said. "I worked on public safety legislation as sort of a hallmark of my service, so it's a natural fit. I think (the attorney general) is the best job in Kansas."

Most of the office's workload is civil litigation, he said, including Medicaid fraud and recoveries and representing several state agencies. But the criminal division, consumer protection and mitigating wrong-doing by local governments are also important parts of the job, Schmidt said.

"The first task of any attorney general is to hire good people, put them on task and make sure core functions are done well," he said. "I think it's important to say that, because that is the basics of the office. Beyond that, comes a question of priorities and where to deploy discretionary resources."

Schmidt said he would focus resources on standing up for states' rights on things like health care mandates.

"The state attorney generals are really in a unique position in this point in American History to help define the balance between the central government in Washington and the state governments," he said. "A great example of that is the ongoing health care litigation. 

"I am one who believes the Constitution doesn't give Congress the authority to order Americans to go into the marketplace and purchase a product," he said.
Schmidt said he thinks most Kansans are "uncomfortable" with the mandate requiring them to buy health insurance. 

"That's an unsettled question of constitutional law and ultimately it's not what I believe that counts-- it's what a majority on the Supreme Court believes that will count," he said. "I do think Kansas ought to be among those states challenging the constitutionality of particularly the individual mandate piece of the health care statute. At the end of the day, the health issue will come and pass, but the legal precedent it sets will not, and if we don't object to the Congressional power grab, it will be used in ways we don't even contemplate to further diminish the ability of Kansans to govern Kansas."

Another important issue that will affect Clay Center is the ongoing litigation going on with Nebraska over the Republican River water rights. The arbitrator's finding in that case wasn't reasonable, but a "symbolic" sum, Schmidt said.

"We got a good ruling ... but I don't think we've seen the real world outcoming that we all desire," he said. "The goal was to get the water, and if we're not going to get the water, we ought to at least have reasonable compensation for the water. At this point we have a good ruling on paper, but we don't have the water and we don't have reasonable compensation for the water, so I think it's important to refocus on the litigation strategy in that case -- to insist that the ruling mean something."

As a rural legislator from Independence, "I do think there's a lot of value in adding a rural voice to the state's legal office," Schmidt said. "The majority of the people may reside in the urban areas, but the majority of the state's land area is rural, the majority of the state's communities are rural."

Schmidt said being a state senator has prepared him well for attorney general, which is one of only five state positions besides the ones in the Legislature that are elected.

"There's a reason for that (being an elected position)," he said. "There are states where the attorney general is appointed. We don't do that in Kansas, and I believe we do that for a reason -- Kansans expect the attorney general to not only be the top staff attorney, but also one of the top elected leaders of the state."

The attorney general should have a "breadth of experience," he said, and Schmidt has been in various positions, as a general counsel, private practice attorney, assistant attorney general, city court prosecutor, and a leader in the Senate.

"I have worked with Kansas political leaders of every persuasion to get things done," he said. "To sum it up in a few words, I like to say I know the client well. At the end of the day the attorney general is the top attorney for the state of Kansas, and ultimately for the citizens. You have to understand the client, and to do that, you actually have to spend time actually working with and listening to Kansans. It's not just a paper job.

Schmidt's record as a state senator shows that he has tried to make Kansas a safer, better place. His record includes:

-- Fighting methamphetamine: Schmidt wrote the Sheriff Matt Samuels Chemical Control Action, which reduced methamphetamine production in Kansas.

-- Stopping sex offenders: Schmidt wrote the Senate version of Jessica's Law, which puts violent sex offenders who prey on children where they belong -- in prison for life.

-- Protecting agriculture: Schmidt wrote the law that makes endangering our food supply a crime, a key step toward protection Kansas agriculture.

-- Opposing frivolous lawsuits: Schmidt supported a law that protects Kansas agri-tourism operators, farmers and ranchers, and other food producers from nuisance lawsuits.

-- Protecting privacy: In response to the despicable picketing of military funerals, Schmidt helped write the 2007 Kansas law that protects the privacy of mourners at funerals.

-- Safeguarding property rights: Schmidt wrote the Kansas law that prevents the government from taking one person's private property and transferring it to another private owner.

-- Restoring the right to self-defense: After the Kansas Supreme court narrowed the right of Kansans to protect their homes from intruders, Schmidt wrote the law restoring the right to self defense.

-- Fighting child pornography: Schmidt wrote the law that lets victims of child pornography to sue the pornographers who exploited them.

-- Fighting human trafficking: Schmidt supported a new law cracking down on human trafficking by creating authority for courts to order human traffickers to forfeit their assets.