FORT SCOTT, Kan. — After three weeks of discussion, Bourbon County Commissioners voted Monday to restore employee leave balances to levels recorded at the end of 2025. The decision followed a lengthy debate regarding a new personnel resolution, including allegations of AI-generated critiques.
The debate began with District 2 Commissioner David Beerbower presenting a revision of the employee benefits resolution he had originally introduced at the April 13 commission meeting.“The purpose of this resolution is to restore employees' years of service for vacation and sick leave to their appropriate pre- 2026 levels, correcting changes made during the recent personnel record audit,” Beerbower said.
The resolution also included several proposed changes to the county’s vacation and sick leave policies.
Commissioner Mika Milburn questioned the complexity of the proposed changes during the debate over the revised resolution. She expressed concern over the administrative burden the new rules would place on county staff.
"This looks like a nightmare for the payroll lady. It really does," Milburn said.
Chairman Samuel Tran opposed the resolution, reading a lengthy prepared statement that warned of potential system manipulation. He argued the proposal introduced contradictions and could lead to favoritism among departments.
"This resolution is presented in a way to create clarity, consistency, and uniformity in employee benefits, but when examined closely, it does the opposite. It introduces contradiction, creates unequal treatment, and opens the door to manipulation," Tran said.
Beerbower responded by accusing Tran of reading an AI-generated analysis that had been posted in a local Facebook group earlier in the day. He said the chairman’s critique analyzed the previous version of the resolution and cited sections that were no longer included in the latest version.
“I'm responding to that statement. This was posted on Facebook and ran through AI in comparison and brought out about contradictions,” Beerbower said, “Problem is, is that there's no section seven in this current resolution. There's no Section 6.3."
An analysis by the Bourbon County Monitor of Tran's prepared comments and the AI analysis referenced by Beerbower shows the two documents share the same 12-point structure, section citations, and illustrative examples.
Commissioner Gregg Motley moved to bypass the complex debate by proposing a foundational "band-aid" solution. His motion sought to carry over all leave balances as they existed on Dec. 31, 2025.
"I make a motion to carry over the leave balances as of 12/31/25." Motley said.
Milburn-Kee questioned how the math would be handled for employees who had already used time in early 2026. She said that staff would still need to calculate the differences manually to account for that usage.
“Some of it's been used. I mean, we're four months in…” Milburn-Kee said, “People have been using that time. Somebody has to do some figuring somewhere.”
District 3 Commissioner Joe Allen said employees could subtract what they had used from their Dec. 31 totals.
“So whatever they had on December 31st, they could subtract what they've used between now and then.” Allen said.
“Pretty easy math,” Motley replied.
The commission passed Motley’s motion in a 3-1-1 vote, with Tran voting against and Milburn abstaining.
Earlier in the discussion, Allen advocated for bringing department heads and other elected officials into the discussion before making any policy changes beyond restoring the lost vacation and sick leave.
“I mean, the five of us have been cussing and discussing this now for three weeks,” Allen said, “but we could have some department heads if they have any concerns with it.”
A work session was scheduled for May 11 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss Beerbower’s revised resolution in greater detail, with department heads and supervisors in attendance.
The most recent version of Beerbower's resolution can be viewed below.
