Paul J. Morrison is a lawyer and a former Attorney General

Kansas Attorney General

The Attorney General of Kansas is a statewide elected official responsible for providing legal services to the state government of Kansas.-Divisions:* Criminal Justice* Civil Litigation* Consumer Protection* Concealed Carry...

 of Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. Morrison attended Washburn University

Washburn University

Washburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...

 and Washburn School of Law, graduating in 1980. While at Washburn, he was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta

Phi Delta Theta

Phi Delta Theta , also known as Phi Delt, is an international fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 169 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S...

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Career

Morrison was sworn in as the 42nd Kansas Attorney General following a twenty-six year career in law enforcement. He previously served as the District Attorney for Johnson County, Kansas

Johnson County, Kansas

Johnson County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. The county is largely suburban, being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and containing many of its affluent southwestern suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 544,179. Its county...

, from 1990 until January 2007. In 2005, Morrison switched from the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 and announced he would challenge Republican Phill Kline

Phill Kline

Phillip D. "Phill" Kline is the former district attorney of Johnson County, Kansas, USA. From January 2003 to January 2007, he was the Attorney General of Kansas. Kline, a member of the Republican Party, lost re-election as attorney general to Democratic challenger Paul Morrison on November 7,...

 in 2006 for Attorney General. On November 7, 2006, Morrison defeated Kline with 58% of the vote. Morrison took office on January 8, 2007. Kline succeeded Morrison as Johnson County District Attorney. On December 14, 2007, in the midst of a scandal involving a former employee while he was Johnson County District Attorney, Morrison announced his resignation effective January 31, 2008.

During his term, Attorney General Paul Morrison made domestic violence, victim services and cyber crime a priority, re-organizing the office and providing new resources to fight these important crimes. A career prosecutor, Morrison has personally argued nearly 100 jury trials including the complex murder cases of notorious serial killers Richard Grissom and John E. Robinson. Morrison continued to personally prosecute cases as Kansas Attorney General.

Extramarital affair

In December 2007 allegations surfaced that Morrison had an affair with an office administrator, Linda Carter, in the district attorney's office, that continued after he was elected Attorney General. Carter filed a sexual harassment claim with the EEOC alleging that Morrison pressured her to obtain sensitive information about Kline and several pending investigations at the district attorney's office. Morrison admitted to the infidelity, but denies any impropriety, sexual harassment, pressure to obtain sensitive information, or influence the course of an investigation.

Resignation

Morrison announced his resignation on December 14, stating that his tenure would end on January 31, 2008. On that date, Morisson was succeeded as Attorney General by Douglas County

Douglas County, Kansas

Douglas County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 110,826...

 District Court Judge Stephen Six

Stephen Six

Stephen N. Six is an American attorney and former judge from Kansas who served as Kansas' 43rd Attorney General. He was nominated to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on March 9, 2011...

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Awards

Morrison is a recipient of the Clarence M. Kelly Award for Excellence in Criminal Justice Administration. The Kansas County and District Attorneys Association honored him with "Prosecutor of the Year" award in 2001 and the "Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2007.