KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A criminal probe into double-dipping accusations against Kansas City, Kansas, Police Chief Terry Zeigler is not over.
Zeigler told 41 Action News on Wednesday that a Kansas Bureau of Investigation probe cleared him of wrongdoing, but a spokesman for Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree said the case is ongoing.
Zeigler also publicly announced Wednesday he's retiring from the KCK Police Department in September after nearly three decades with the department.
He informed Wyandotte County Administrator Doug Bach about his plans to retire in a June 19 letter.
The KBI finished its investigation of Zeigler and sent a report to Dupree in early May.
At issue, Zeigler took paid time off as chief while also getting paid for labor, materials and gas mileage to fix up a taxpayer-owned lake house where he resides.
Some officials expressed concern regarding Zeigler’s lease deal, but Mayor David Alvey called such attacks politically motivated.
Zeigler said Wednesday that his retirement announcement had nothing to do with the criminal investigation against him.
“The house deal, the KBI sat down with me and my attorney; they said that I have done nothing wrong,” Zeigler told 41 Action News. “There is no probable cause for misdemeanor or felony charges. The investigators at the Attorney General's office are aware of that. The files are in the District Attorney's office.”
However, the KBI doesn't make prosecutorial decisions: “We turned over the findings of the investigation to the Wyandotte County District Attorney's Office and the charging decisions for this case will be made by his office,” KBI said in a statement to 41 Action News.
The spokesman for Dupree’s office said Zeigler's retirement announcement will have no effect on any decision about how to proceed based on the KBI findings.
