KDC responds to allegations made by former employee found dead in Kansas

TOPEKA ( KSNT ) – A Kansas state agency has issued a statement regarding a former employee who was recently found dead earlier this month.

The Kansas Department of Commerce (KDC) issued a statement in a press release on Thursday, Aug. 29 on the allegations involving former employee Jonathan Clayton of Peabody who was found dead recently.

A 2011 Chevy Silverado was found just before 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 25 near the U.S. Highway 50 and Interstate 135 interchange in Harvey County, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Investigators believe the vehicle drove off the road and crashed into a tree on the property.

While the KBI didn’t confirm the identity of the man at the time, investigators say the vehicle was registered to Clayton. Calling his death unfortunate, the KDC said it needed to provide clarity regarding allegations made against the agency by Clayton.

“Clayton’s allegations of wrongdoing by the Department of Commerce related to the awarding of BASE grants, along with his allegation that he was forced to serve on a volunteer theatre board, are categorically false.”

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.”

KDC statement on Clayton’s death

The KDC said while no evidence of exists of impropriety at the KDC, an independent third-party organization is conducting a review of all ARPA grants. The department is also requesting help from local, state and federal agencies investigating Clayton’s volunteer work with community-based organizations that may be the victims of fraud. These include organizations in Kiowa and Marion Counties.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s office released a statement regarding the situation around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 29.

“The governor’s comments regarding Jonathan Clayton’s employment at the Kansas Department of Commerce were specifically referencing an independent review the Department of Commerce has requested to investigate any ARPA grants that Jonathan Clayton was involved in. Lieutenant Governor David Toland initiated this additional step several weeks ago as an extra precaution.

Lieutenant Governor Toland has conducted himself at the highest ethical standards throughout his entire career and has brought important reforms to the Kansas Department of Commerce, including the creation of the incentive transparency database, strong incentive clawback policies, and strict reporting requirements for all programs. He has worked to bring more, not less, accountability to the agency.

Clearly, Jonathan Clayton was able to avoid the discovery of his criminal convictions. His financial crimes coming to light, and questions about his involvement with local organizations that received ARPA grants, appear to have set off the chain of events that have occurred over the last several weeks.

The governor and lieutenant governor will be pursuing changes to the background check statutes this upcoming legislative session. In the meantime, they will be working to sort out issues with those impacted at the local level and will provide whatever support they can to those communities.”

Will Lawrence, Office of the Governor chief of staff

Mike Pirner, a spokesman for the office of Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, also issued a statement regarding Clayton’s death.

“The circumstances that surround Mr. Clayton’s apparent death and involvement on several boards and commissions as a KS Dept of Commerce employee are appropriately being investigated by law enforcement. Our office has and will continue to support law enforcement in their efforts to uncover the truth. It’s important to emphasize that legislative leaders had no role in the Department’s scoring of BASE projects and that the Senate President never requested or even had a conversation about altering the Department’s scoring.  The President was involved merely in his capacity as a member of the SPARK Executive Committee. Furthermore, any characterization that Butler County, the 8th most populous county in Kansas, received an inordinate amount of funding, is completely unsupported by the grant award data.”

Mike Pirner statement regarding Clayton’s death

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