Top JoCo prosecutor leaves for private practice

Kansas City Business Journal
December 12, 2006

A top deputy prosecutor in the Johnson County District Attorney's office is moving into private practice, he said Tuesday, a day after his former boss's political rival was appointed as the new head of the prosecutor's office.

Scott Toth, who has worked in the Johnson County prosecutor's office for more than 18 years, left to join the newly renamed firm of Garretson Webb & Toth LLC in downtown Olathe. Toth, whose move became effective Dec. 1, will practice exclusively in the area of criminal defense. Toth said his practice will be in municipal, district and federal courts on the Kansas side of the state line.

"I hope to primarily practice in the area of criminal defense of felonies and some of the more serious crimes," he said in an interview Tuesday. "I am really excited about this."

Toth's announcement came the day after Johnson County precinct committee members narrowly selected ousted Attorney General Phill Kline to fill out the remaining two years of District Attorney Paul Morrison's term.

Morrison switched from the Republican to the Democratic party to challenge Kline for attorney general. Morrison prevailed in the November general election, setting up the unusual Kline-Morrison job swap. Precinct committee members voted 316-291 for Kline over Steve Howe, another Johnson County prosecutor.

Toth said he began looking to move into private practice as soon as Morrison entered the AG's race. He said he never considered making a bid of his own to become DA.

"I spent 18-and-a-half years prosecuting, and given the climate, I just felt like it would be a nice time to start a change," he said. "Change was in the air with Morrison running for attorney general. And I made the decision that since I had always worked for him, I didn't want to work for anybody else other than him -- except for myself, which I'm now doing."

Toth has handled a wide range of Johnson County's most serious crimes, including 91 jury trials. He recently prosecuted Shawnee Mission East volleyball coach Terry Wright for one count of rape of a former player. Toth was the section chief for the Sex Crimes Unit of the Johnson County District Attorney's Office for more than eight years, handling the office's most heinous sex offenses. Since 1995, Toth also handled all of the sexual predator cases through Johnson County as a Special Assistant to the Kansas Attorney General's Office.