Kansas officials deny allegations of wrongdoing; say background statutes will be changed

Jonathan L. Clayton, the former director of economic recovery for the Kansas Department of Commerce, went missing Aug. 3 amid investigations into his handling of COVID-19 federal funds.

Later, a body found in a crashed pickup truck in Harvey County was confirmed to be that of Clayton.

Today, the Kansas Dept. of Commerce released a statement saying  allegations of wrongdoing by the Department of Commerce related to the awarding of BASE grants were unfounded.

Prior to becoming part of the Department of Commerce in Kansas, Clayton previously pleaded guilty to theft and forgery in Pennsylvania stemming from his misuse of an employer’s credit cards to bolster his and his partner’s fledgling theater company. He was sentenced in 2018 to five years probation and was ordered to pay $210,000 in restitution.

The statement released today said: “The Department of Commerce was not aware of Jonathan Clayton’s felony convictions in Pennsylvania when Clayton was hired in 2020. Under existing Kansas law, we are unable to perform national level criminal background checks for the position that Clayton held.

“Our process for vetting prospective employees included online searches, social media reviews and reference checks, which unfortunately failed to uncover his felony convictions. He would not have been hired by Commerce had we been aware of these convictions.”

While there is no evidence of any impropriety at the Department of Commerce, as an extra precaution, an independent third-party contractor is doing a full review of all ARPA grants.

The Department of Commerce has also requested and is assisting local, state and federal agencies investigating Clayton’s volunteer work with community-based organizations in Kiowa and Marion counties who may be victims of fraud.

The governor and lieutenant governor say they will be pursuing changes to the background check statutes in this upcoming legislative session.