Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden is a threat to the rule of law. He should resign

Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden is an embarrassment to the people he was elected to serve, and a clear threat to respect for the rule of law.

He should resign.

For years, Hayden has pursued — without evidence — allegations of misfeasance in the 2020 general election in Johnson County (the same election, by the way, where Hayden won 92% of the vote, running unopposed).

The lack of proof hasn’t stopped the sheriff from continuing to promote the local Big Lie. He did so again recently in remarks at a conference of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, described as an “anti-government extremist group” by the Anti-Defamation League.

“We’ve been educating ourselves about elections,” Hayden said. “I’ve sent my detectives through, I’ve got a cyber guy, sent him through, to start evaluating what’s going on with the machines.”

Anyone with a fifth grade intelligence knows what’s going on with the voting machines: nothing. People vote, the machines tally the votes, and the results are posted. There is no evidence, except in Hayden’s fevered imagination, of large-scale improper or illegal voting in Johnson County, or anywhere else for that matter.

“I stand by the integrity and accuracy of Johnson County, KS elections,” Johnson County Election Commissioner Fred Sherman said in a tweet. “My highest priority … is to ensure every eligible ballot is counted accurately and election results reflect the voting decisions of the people I serve.”

Casting doubt on the integrity of elections is a serious matter, and Hayden deserves censure for doing it, and using taxpayer funds to pursue a baseless inquiry. But it’s an outrage for any elected official to question the ballot just days before one of the most important elections in Kansas history.

And it’s beyond comprehension that Hayden would make the remarks before a group that flirts with white supremacy, spouting legal and constitutional nonsense about the nonexistent preeminence of the sheriff in American government.

“The power of the sheriff even supersedes the powers of the president,” the group claims. Of course, the word “sheriff” isn’t in the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps Sheriff Hayden can read the document some time.

(And let’s not hear any silliness about the sheriff in “ye olde England,” either. We declared our independence from Britain in 1776. Perhaps Hayden has heard of that.)

Hayden’s service has been marked by one misstep after another. He pointed out, repeatedly, that COVID-19 vaccines were not required in his department — threatening the safety and health of every Johnson Countian in contact with his officers. He has injected himself into partisan politics, even making a TV commercial against a candidate while wearing his uniform.

He traveled to the U.S. border with Mexico for a photo op. He fought a proposal to appoint the sheriff, rather than elect him or her.

This isn’t what Johnson Countians want or expect from their sheriff. They need someone who will run the department efficiently and fairly, and not pursue Trumpian falsehoods about voter fraud.

In his recent remarks, Hayden said new county residents are importing their politics from the “crummy” places they used to live. Perhaps those new voters can escort the sheriff to the exit in 2024, if he runs again.

We think he should quit first.