Phill Kline

Phill Kline

Phillip D. "Phill" Kline (born December 31, 1959) is the former district attorney of Johnson County. From January 2003 to January 2007, he was the Attorney General of Kansas. Kline, a member of the Republican Party, lost re-election as attorney general to Democratic challenger Paul Morrison on November 7, 2006, 58%-41%. Kline became the district attorney of Johnson County on the day he left office as attorney general, effectively switching jobs with Morrison. Kline then ran for a full term as district attorney, but Steve Howe defeated Kline in the August 5, 2008, Republican primary.

Kline was a polarizing figure in state politics, using his offices to aggressively prosecute abortion providers. He filed charges against George Tiller, a late-term abortion provider, and led a years-long effort to prosecute Planned Parenthood in Kansas. Kline's tactics drew legal and ethical scrutiny; he testified before an ethics investigation that he had the right to deceive other state agencies and had no duty to immediately correct false information provided to a trial judge in the course of his investigations of abortion providers. In 2011, the Kansas state Board of Discipline of Attorneys recommended that Kline's law license be indefinitely suspended, citing a pattern of repeatedly misleading statements, "dishonest and selfish motives", and a failure to "take any responsibility for his misconduct." Kline disputed the Board's findings as politically motivated.