KBI investigates sheriff's office

HOLTON — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations made against the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, a KBI official said Wednesday.

John Wiley Kerr, associate director of the KBI, confirmed the bureau started an investigation Monday night.

"We are investigating allegations involving the sheriff's department and will forward our findings to the attorney general's office as soon as that investigation is complete," Kerr said.

Kerr declined to release the nature of the allegations, or if they involved one or more people at the department. He said it wasn't known when the investigation would be complete.

Sheriff Charles Cornell was unable to be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Undersheriff Danny Howerton said Cornell had taken some time off Wednesday morning but wasn't sure if he would return later in the day. Howerton declined to comment about the investigation.

Cornell, who previously worked for the Salina and Holton police departments, took office in 2004 after defeating former Sheriff Bruce Tomlinson. He was elected again in 2008.

Kerr said the KBI receives allegations involving law enforcement departments throughout the state. Not all result in active investigations or charges.

"It depends on the type of allegations being made," Kerr said about which complaints are investigated.

Gavin Young, spokesman for Attorney General Steve Six, said he was aware of only one other investigation since coming to Six's office in May that involved one of the state's sheriff's offices.

"It was last year, and that investigation didn't lead to any charges," Young said in an e-mail. "Because of that, it would be inappropriate to divulge the location."