By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Jason Boyd, a candidate for Sumner County Sheriff, was recently charged with two misdemeanors stemming from his 14-year-old son’s alleged illegal driving last summer.

Boyd is claiming the charges are politically motivated. Sumner County Attorney Larry Marczynski and Sheriff Darren Chambers are saying otherwise.

Jason Boyd

Boyd has been charged with “Contributing to a Child’s Misconduct” and “Permitting Unauthorized Driver,” both misdemeanors in a Sumner County criminal complaint filed in November. The case has been continued to Feb. 5, 2024, at 4 p.m. in Sumner County District Court.

Darren Chambers

According to a redacted affidavit released to Sumner Newscow, Boyd allegedly provided a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe on August 7, registered in his name, to his 14-year-old son. He then allowed him to drive with his 12-year-old brother as a passenger from South Haven to his ex-wife’s rural Cheney home, 58 miles away.

In Kansas, 14-year-olds can receive a Driver Farm Permit provided they only drive to and from a farm job or from school on days that it is in session over the most direct and accessible route.

Boyd and his ex-wife Jacquelyn Matchett have two children together and were embroiled in a custody dispute regarding them, according to the affidavit. The mother is the custodial parent.

Marczynski states the violation occurred because the 14-year-old was not driving to and from work at the time of the incident.

Boyd announced his candidacy for sheriff on July 20. He ran unsuccessfully against Chambers in 2020, losing 2,188 to 1,717.

The two could run against one another in 2024. However, Chambers has yet to announce his candidacy.

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Jason Boyd

Boyd’s position

“It’s no secret that I have been under personal attack from Darren Chambers for the past 10 years,” Boyd told Sumner Newscow. “But to involve my children is the lowest blow yet.”

Boyd said this incident began over a disagreement between his ex-wife and his children over a proposed family trip to California. During the dispute, the two sons decided to stay with him, and the sheriff’s deputies got involved when they didn’t return to their mother under the guidelines of the custody agreement.

That resulted in his ex-wife exchanging information, including Chambers’s phone number, Boyd said. He eventually told the two boys to work it out with their mother. He then gave the two boys permission to drive home in the Tahoe.

Boyd said he almost forgot about the whole incident until his son told him about a strange phone call he received from a Cowley County deputy two weeks later, asking questions about why he drove home that night. He thought it was unusual since his son had driven back and forth eight or nine times that summer. Boyd said his son helps him around his farm in south Sumner County.

Boyd said he then received the summons for the two misdemeanor charges.

“What tripped my trigger is I am the subject of this so-called investigation, and yet no one had contacted me,” Boyd said. “That’s highly unusual for an investigation. They talked to my juvenile son, but they couldn’t come to me?”

Boyd then talked to the Cowley County Sheriff’s deputy working on the case. He was told he was getting direct orders from his boss, Cowley County Sheriff Dave Falletti.

“Chambers and him are good friends,” Boyd said.

Boyd, who worked for the Conway Springs police force, then asked his boss, Chief Michael Roths, to talk to Marczynski, asking what was up. Marczynski told Roth that he was receiving political pressure from the sheriff deputies and the sheriff’s attorney, Boyd said.

Boyd said that Chambers has tried to nail him on a couple of other unrelated issues, but Marczynki would never prosecute. However, this incident is different and Boyd suspects it was because of the Cowley Sheriff’s Office’s involvement.

Boyd states:

“When you get right down to it, this is a charge against a 14-year-old driving a vehicle. He has been driving since he was 8-years-old helping me on the farm. I completely trust his driving… Sumner County is the Wheat Capital of the World. If you ticket every farm kid who has ever driven a vehicle for something other than work related stuff you would run out of ticket books.

The issue isn’t about a kid driving to Cheney. This is political motivation and trying to embarrass me.”

Larry Marczynski

Marczynski’s position

Marczynski said he has never spoken to Chambers directly about the incident.

“My only position is this appears to be a misdemeanor crime,” Marczynski said. “It doesn’t matter if it is a cop, my best friend, or anyone else. I have to look at the facts and determine whether or not there is enough evidence to file a charge.”

Marczynski said he has no interest in getting into whatever political fight there is between Chambers and Boyd.

“I have my own election to deal with (he is up for reelection in 2024),” Marczynski said. “If I’m lucky enough to win reelection, I must work with either Boyd or Chambers. It is not to my advantage to hurt a relationship with either one of them.”

Marczynski said the timing was unfortunate. He realized that charging Boyd then would be an issue, especially since he announced his candidacy a month earlier. Still, Marczynski said, the timing is irrelevant when making the charge.

He said he called in the Cowley Sheriff’s Office to do the investigation because of the potential for a bias accusation if Sumner’s Sheriff’s Office had investigated it.

“This isn’t the crime of the century,” Marczynski said. “I may even dismiss this case if more information comes to light. But as far as this office is concerned, the charge was not political in the slightest.”

Darren Chambers

Chambers position

“How?” Chambers responded when asked whether the Boyd misdemeanor charges were politically motivated. “I have nothing to do with his ex-wife, or his children, or his personal life. What does this have to do with me?”

He continues:

“We (the Sheriff’s office) didn’t even file the complaint. That’s the county attorney’s office. We didn’t even do the investigation. That was handled by Cowley County. And very rarely do we allow an outside agency to come in and investigate a Sumner County matter. But we knew the second this happened that we were going to be accused of political bias. But the facts of the matter is, I don’t cease becoming Sheriff depending on who commits the crime.”

Chambers said when the August incident took place, he was in Michigan on vacation and didn’t know anything about it until he got back. He tried to avoid it as much as possible because of Boyd’s history of accusing him of impropriety.

“I have 70 employees under my agency who are filing reports every day. I don’t know the details of every report that we file, unless I specifically read it,” Chambers said. “Also, we don’t charge anyone. That’s the county attorney. He determines what gets charged and what does not. We can only file a report.”

Also, Chambers asked rhetorically how it could be politically motivated when he hasn’t announced he is running for Sheriff next year.

“Dealing with this kind of bull s**t, I’m not sure I want to run,” Chambers said.

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