L&T staff report

A petition to recall Seward County Commission Chair Steve Helm has been submitted to Seward County Clerk Stacia Long. The office has forwarded the document to Seward County Attorney Russell Hassenbank, and if he approves the language, signatures can begin to be gathered for a recall election.

The petition states Helm “has engaged in misconduct in office and failed to perform the duties prescribed by law.”

The petition charges Helm “voted for and authorized the expenditure of restricted solid waste landfill fee revenues to fund the salary of the Assistant County Administrator, in direct violation of the restricted funds protections outlined in K.S.A. 65-3410 and Attorney General Opinion 1997-55.”

The petition also asserts, “By diverting dedicated environmental utility fees to general administrative overhead, Commissioner Helm failed to exercise lawful expenditure authority under K.S.A. 19-229 and K.S.A. 79-2934, circumventing approved departmental budget limits, and breaching the public trust.”

The issue revolves around the questionable creation and funding of the assistant administrator’s position currently held by Brock Theiner although no commission vote ever took place to create the position, and funding for the position was removed when the budget was revised in February.

But Theiner has remained on staff and has been paid with funds from the landfill since March of 2026, according to documents obtained through open records request, despite statutes that limit the use of landfill funds considered in the attorney general’s opinion to be a “trust” fund restricted to the exclusive use of operating the landfill.

A recall requires three committee members, and those signing the petition in the presence of the Seward County Clerk staff were Jimmie Rice, Ricky Madden and Bee Symons.

Hassenbank now has five days to review the petition and decide if it meets the legal standard for a recall.

If it does, the committee has 90 days to collect 548 signatures from Helm’s district in order to enact a public vote for that district to determine whether or not Helm can retain his seat.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Helm was contacted for comment but none was received as of press time.