What to know about favoritism allegations at Kansas Commerce and accuser's death

The Kansas Department of Commerce is hiring a third-party investigator to review all of its grants distributed from the American Rescue Plan Act after a former employee alleged a corrupt process for the Building a Stronger Economy grant .

Jonathan Clayton's body was found Aug. 25 in a vehicle that apparently left US-50 highway and crashed into a ravine.

Clayton worked for the Department of Commerce between February 2020 and near the end of 2023. During the last two years of his tenure, Clayton was responsible for directing COVID relief funds in the state.

He then moved to Peabody where he worked as a deputy clerk. After increased scrutiny over Clayton’s handling of grants in Peabody and Mullinville and discovery that he had been convicted for financial crimes in Pennsylvania, Clayton went missing.

After he disappeared, Clayton sent allegations of corruption to various Kansas media outlets and state officials.

Jonathan Clayton's disappearance

Clayton disappeared from his home in Peabody on Aug. 3. That occurred after the Commerce department took legal action against the Mullinville Community Foundation and Peabody Main Street Association. Clayton served as the treasurer for the MCF and was responsible for filing the documents of the PMSA to the state.

On Aug. 25, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation reported it found a vehicle belonging to Clayton with a deceased person inside, and family later confirmed that it was Clayton. KBI said the crash went undiscovered, with his body in a state of decay, and said that there’s no evidence of foul play.

Allegations of wrongdoing

On Aug. 3, Clayton disappeared and sent emails to media outlets alleging wrongdoing by Department of Commerce officials. The email claimed Lt. Gov. David Toland, a Democrat who also serves as the secretary of commerce, concocted a scheme with Senate President Ty Masterson R-Andover, and former House Speaker Ron Ryckman to prioritize specific awardees for the Building a Stronger Economy grant and ordered Clayton to sit on the board of directors for the Iola Theatre Association.

“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,” Department of Commerce communications director Patrick Lowry said in a media release.

Gov. Laura Kelly’s chief of staff Will Lawrence said Toland has “conducted himself at the highest ethical standard” in his career and “worked to bring more, not less, accountability to the agency." Masterson’s spokesperson Mike Pirner also denied the claims Clayton made.

“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,” Pirner said.

How a felon led Commerce's COVID relief in Kansas

The DOC said it wasn’t aware of Clayton’s felony conviction when he was hired, and that Kansas law doesn’t allow nationwide criminal background checks for the position he held. In 2018, Clayton pleaded guilty to counts of forgery, theft and conspiracy to commit theft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“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,” Department of Commerce spokesperson Patrick Lowry said in a news release.

Kansas implemented a “ban the box” law for state employees in 2018, which prohibits state agencies from conducting criminal background checks. The law is being reconsidered in light of these incidents.

“The governor and lieutenant governor will be pursuing changes to the background check statutes this upcoming legislative session," Lawrence said. "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.”

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: What to know about favoritism allegations at Kansas Commerce and accuser's death