Kansas House postpones work of panel investigating complaint against Rep. Ford Carr
Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, learns firsthand the special Kansas House committee examining his conduct wouldn't meet Thursday due to important debate and votes on the House floor. Rep. Bob Lewis, Republican chairman of the special panel, said the meeting would be rescheduled for early April. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — A Kansas House investigative committee called off a meeting Thursday scheduled to delve deeper into evidence that could lead to the extraordinary removal from office of outspoken Democratic Rep. Ford Carr of Wichita.
Rep. Bob Lewis, the Garden City Republican who serves as chairman of the bipartisan panel, said pressure to conclude debates and votes on the House floor took precedence over convening the committee to resume examination of the case against Carr. The committee is expected to meet again in early April, he said.
Carr, subject of the disciplinary complaint submitted by Republican Rep. Leah Howell of Derby, said he was annoyed but not surprised by the delay.
'This is just another attempt, again, just to silence my voice,' said Carr, who is Black and has made controversial statements about racism in Kansas Legislature. 'I came prepared. My supporters showed up. People took off work. This is just an effort so they can attempt to push this thing off until maybe there's no one that's willing to show up. I'm always going to be here. You know, they'll never shut me up.'
After word trickled out from the House chamber the investigatory committee's meeting would be postponed, Lewis arrived in the fifth-floor committee room to explain to Carr and others that protracted House debate on an abortion-related bill conflicted with the scheduled meeting.
'The proceedings are not over,' Lewis told Carr. 'You'll be given every consideration.'
GOP Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita attorney serving on the special committee, was carrying House Bill 2062 on the House floor that would mandate payment of child support from the date of conception.
In a brief exchange in the committee meeting room, Carr said material he asked to be introduced into evidence for the special committee 'appears to be missing.'
'I think you're drawing some assumptions that aren't true,' Lewis said.
'I don't know if they're true or not,' Carr replied.
'I know you don't,' Lewis said.
'I'm just telling you to calm down,' Carr said.
'I'm not upset,' Lewis answered. 'I'm trying to present the evidence that's admissible in clear form.'
Lewis said House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, participated in the decision to postpone the Carr inquiry so House members could participate fully on the floor.
The peer review of behavior among House members began when Carr filed a complaint against Wichita Rep. Nick Hoheisel. He alleged Hoheisel hurled abusive language at Carr during consideration of a firearm education bill in February. The House Select Investigating Committee deadlocked 3-3 along partisan lines on whether Hoheisel was guilty of using disorderly words while expressing himself to Carr.
In wake of that case, Howell stepped forward with a rebuttal complaint backed with information about Carr's purported harsh language and disruptive behavior. Her evidence file included videos, columns, statements and news reports related to Carr that stretching from 2023 to 2025.
The packet included material on Carr's reference to a House colleague as a 'House Negro,' which resulted in an admonition from House GOP leadership not to impugn motives of others. Carr responded with a letter declaring Republicans in the House wouldn't succeed in the attempt to 'silence my voice as a Black lawmaker.'
In January, Carr was involved in a disturbance with Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson at the Celtic Fox tavern across the street from the Capitol in Topeka. Video of that exchange was posted to social media and was included in the basket of evidence submitted by Howell.
That was followed by the conflict between Carr and Hoheisel. In that encounter, Carr had thanked a House Republican for not being too racist to answer his questions. Hoheisel took exception to Carr's statement and approached Carr at his desk on the House floor to emphasize Carr's conclusion was 'bulls***.'
The investigatory committee evaluating the complaint against Carr could wind up in a 3-3 tie and make no recommendation to the full House. A majority on the panel could vote to dismiss the case or submit to the House a proposal to discipline Carr with a reprimand, censure or expulsion.
In the full House, disciplinary action would require support from two-thirds of the 125-member chamber. In the 2025 legislative session, Republicans hold an 88-36 advantage over Democrats in the House.
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