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A judge unsealed two indictments Friday of felony theft against two Kansas City, Kan., lawyers for stealing more than $125,000 each from the Board of Public Utilities.

Judge Jack Lively, a retired Coffeyville judge appointed by the Kansas Supreme Court to preside over the charges, unsealed the last two of 14 indictments returned by a grand jury convened in March for a petition-led investigation of BPU.

Marc Conklin, 43, and Rodney Turner, 68, both of Kansas City, Kan., were indicted on identical counts of theft of more than $25,000, and theft of more than $100,000.

The two different indictments were required, said Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman, because the Kansas Legislature passed a statute in 2004 that created a new class of felony theft, of more than $100,000.

The other twelve counts returned by the grand jury were not related to BPU.

Gorman gave a press conference Friday afternoon in which he shed some light on the details of the 57 counts the grand jury charged Turner and Conklin with.

Conklin had served as the general counsel for BPU and the charges against him are for permitting false claims, while the charges against Turner, a private-practice attorney, are for presenting false claims that resulted in the thefts from BPU.

The total amount of money "missing" from BPU is more than $400,000, Gorman said, though he didn't know whether the two men shared their take or whether the money was recoverable.

Turner had also served as the chief city counselor for Kansas City, Kan., before the city’s consolidation in 1997 with Wyandotte County, Gorman said, and Conklin had served on Turner’s staff as an assistant city counselor.

In answer to a question Gorman said he would “not rebut” the assertion that the indictments stem from Conklin’s approval of fees for outside attorney work presented by Turner.

The indictments cover the period from Sept. 1, 2003, to April 30, 2008.

Gorman said his office was still investigating whether the attorneys had stolen money from BPU before that period, but the statute of limitations precludes charging the men for crimes committed five or more years previous.

Turner and Conklin were arraigned Friday and released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bonds.

Gorman said the trial is required to start within six months but that he thought it would not begin before the new year, in part because, “I expect lots of motions to be filed beginning Nov. 1.”

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