Opinion ID: 2508217
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Uniform Application of the Statute

Text: The Court of Appeals majority opined that if it looked to how the officer's misconduct affected his credibility, then it would have to create a special criteria or test based upon trust for state-employed police officers. This approach would prevent the statute from being uniformly construed and applied. We disagree. K.S.A. 75-2949f lists grounds for personal conduct detrimental to state service. As the legislature does not define the terms gross misconduct or conduct grossly unbecoming a state officer or employee, the appointing authority must decide on a case-by-case basis whether the particular misconduct was gross. In making that determination, we believe the appointing authority should have the right to consider the totality of the circumstances in determining the severity of the misconduct, which would include not only the specific actions but the ramifications of those actions on the state officer or employee's ability to perform his or her duties. As the totality of the circumstances must be examined no matter what branch of state service is involved, the statute is still being uniformly applied. It simply means that different factors would be more or less relevant depending on what type of state service is being considered. In this case, the manner in which Jones' conduct affected his credibility was but one factor to consider in determining whether his conduct should be characterized as gross misconduct or conduct grossly unbecoming a state officer or employee. Interestingly, the Court of Appeals majority cites Moe, 450 N.W.2d at 370-71, in which the Minnesota Court of Appeals found that a police officer's felonious possession of cocaine constituted gross misconduct in light of the nature of his position. The court focused on the issues of trust and integrity as it related to the misconduct: The image of integrity and trust is essential to the performance of a police officer's duties. There must be public confidence in law enforcement, and to ignore felonious possession of cocaine by a police officer could only serve to undermine public confidence in that office. This is a time in our society when the scourge of cocaine is running rampant in many parts of our country. We cannot be blind to society's concern about the adverse influence of cocaine in our midst. To some, the result to Moe might seem harsh. He is redirecting his life and that is commendable, but his efforts to rehabilitate are irrelevant to the issue of good cause to discharge. The issue here is the integrity of the police department and under our scope of review we must affirm. 450 N.W.2d at 370. Turning back to this case, the Court of Appeals majority should have considered the totality of the circumstances, including the effect on Jones' integrity and credibility, in determining whether he committed gross misconduct or conduct grossly unbecoming a state officer. As discussed above, substantial competent evidence supported the Board's findings that Jones turned off the in-car camera prior to the termination of the stop and submitted a report which falsely indicated that Esping's car was legally parked. By turning off the camera, Jones destroyed evidence and unnecessarily exposed the KSU Police to Esping's charges of police misconduct. Jones sought merely to protect his own interests, by first ordering the camera to remain on when the stop appeared to be difficult and then by ordering the camera to be turned off so his actions could not be used against him by the KSU Police. He submitted a false report and failed to log in the videotaped stop making it more difficult for the videotape to be located during the investigation. While the end result, allowing Esping to drive her car a short distance without a license, does not appear to be a major offense, the ramifications of Jones' actions seriously affected his credibility and integrity as a KSU Police officer. Under the circumstances of this case, we conclude that the Court of Appeals majority improperly substituted its judgment for that of the Board. Substantial competent evidence supports the Board's conclusion that Jones' actions constituted gross misconduct or conduct grossly unbecoming a state officer and employee sufficient to support his termination as a KSU Police officer. Judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed. Judgment of the district court affirming the Board's conclusion upholding Jones' termination is affirmed. LUCKERT, J., concurring: I concur in the outcome of the majority opinion and most of the rationale but disagree with the majority's conclusion that KSU Police Department Policy and Procedure § 12.3.24 required that Gary Jones must have intentionally falsified the report. The policy states in part: An officer shall not make or submit any false or inaccurate reports . . . . Nothing in this portion of the policy imposes a scienter requirement. In contrast, the remaining portion of the policy prohibits an officer from knowingly entering or causing to be entered into a report any inaccurate, false, or improper information. Hence, a distinction is made between the officer who makes or submits the report and thus commits a per se violation of the policy and the officer who provides information to be placed in a report who commits a violation only if acting with intent. The majority does not explain why it interprets the policy to require that an officer who makes or submits a report must do so with the intent to state a falsehood or inaccuracy. Intent may be a factor in determining if there is gross misconduct, but the majority does not discuss the intent requirement in this context. In fact, the majority's discussion of gross misconduct is consistent with a determination that the lack of trust which can result because of a false report, whether resulting from negligence or intentional falsehood, is a basis to determine that submission of a false report is gross misconduct. If the policy is applied as written rather than as construed by the majority, Jones violated the policy by making and submitting a false or inaccurate report regardless of whether he did so intentionally. Therefore, the Kansas State Civil Service Board (Board) made an adequate finding when it stated: 11. Mr. Jones stated in his report that Ms. Esping's vehicle was legally parked at the time of the stop . . . . Ms. Esping's vehicle was not legally parked at the time of the traffic stop. This finding establishes that Jones made the report and that the report was false or inaccurate, thus establishing a violation of the policy. Consequently, the majority need not and should not have engaged in the questionable analysis of whether the Board must have meant, although it did not specifically find, that Jones had intentionally submitted a false or inaccurate report. McFARLAND, C.J., and BEIER, J., concur in the result.