An investigator said he kept edited records from abortion clinics in a Rubbermaid container in his dining room for several weeks. Others, according to testimony, stored them briefly in cars and homes and copied them at a downtown Kinko's.

How prosecutor Phill Kline and his employees handled patient records is a major issue in a legal dispute before the Kansas Supreme Court. A Planned Parenthood clinic is trying to force Kline to return patient files that could be a key part of his criminal case against the clinic.

The clinic, Comprehensive Health, has the support of Attorney General Steve Six, whose office said in a court filing that Kline's handling of the documents was "appalling." The clinic also wants the Supreme Court to consider citing Kline for contempt.

Kline, once Kansas' attorney general and now the Johnson County district attorney, argues the records were handled safely, that patient privacy was never at risk and that Planned Parenthood wants to keep him from prosecuting its Overland Park clinic.

As district attorney, Kline filed 107 charges against the clinic, alleging it performed illegal abortions and falsified documents.

Almost all details about the dispute remained secret for 11 months because the Supreme Court had kept separate lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood and the attorney general's office under seal. On Friday, the court unsealed them, making hundreds of pages of documents public.

"I am pleased that, finally, the truth is coming out regarding the nature and extent of Mr. Kline's activities," said Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney for Planned Parenthood.

Abortion opponents said the documents showed that since Kline left the attorney general's office, his successors have not been aggressive in pursuing abortion providers and has even protected them.

Kline noted that a district judge who once supervised his investigation of Planned Parenthood gave him permission to transfer records to Johnson County before he took over there in January 2007. He said such information-sharing is routine in law enforcement.

"This was harassment," he said of Planned Parenthood's lawsuit. "It's a criminal defendant suing a prosecutor personally."

Parenthood filed a lawsuit against Kline in June 2007 and asked the Supreme Court to place it under seal, a request the justices honored. The attorney general's office filed its own suit two months later, also under seal, naming the judge who had once supervised Kline as the defendant.

It's highly unusual for the Supreme Court to seal a case. Later, both Kline and the clinic said the suits didn't need to remain sealed.

The court scheduled arguments from attorneys in Planned Parenthood's lawsuit for June 12. It told lawyers involved in the attorney general's suit to file written arguments by May 22 on whether it should be dismissed.

"Our goal has always been to protect women's private medical records," Six spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett said.

But Kline spokesman Brian Burgess noted that the Supreme Court said it did only "minimal" editing to protect patient privacy before unsealing the cases. He said the records at issued contained no identifications.

Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, began investigating Planned Parenthood's Overland Park clinic and another operated in Wichita by Dr. George Tiller in 2003, months after he became attorney general.

His attempt to obtain information from about 90 patients' files led to a lengthy legal battle. Eventually, the Supreme Court spelled out how those records would be handled, and Kline was able to review edited copies.

Kline lost his 2006 re-election bid to an abortion rights supporter, but Johnson County Republicans picked him to fill a vacancy in the county prosecutor's job.

Kline didn't pursue a criminal case against Planned Parenthood's clinic as attorney general but, three days before leaving that office, he forwarded edited records from 29 patients' files to the Johnson County district attorney's office.

Planned Parenthood contends Kline had a duty to give up control of the records when he left the state office. It said he disregarded "clear requirements" spelled out by the Supreme Court and should be punished with a contempt citation.

Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson, who had supervised Kline's investigation as attorney general, declined to do so or order the return of the records. He said during a closed April 2007 hearing that before Kline left the state office, he had given him permission to forward records "to any other prosecutor" who might work with Kline.

Kline not only forwarded Planned Parenthood records to Johnson County, but edited versions of records from Tiller's clinic as well.

When Planned Parenthood and the new attorney general asked the Supreme Court to intervene, the handling of patient records became an issue. The high court eventually appointed a special master to gather evidence.

That evidence included testimony of Kline deputies, who acknowledged moving copies of records to their cars to transport them and briefly store them, and keeping them briefly at their homes and, in one case, a garage.

Investigator Jared Reed, who followed Kline from the attorney general's office to a job in Johnson County, said he stored some records in a Rubbermaid container in his apartment dining room from early January to mid-February 2007.

According to a transcript, he said during a Dec. 3 hearing, "Looking back at it, it kind of strays from the normalcy of, you know, chain of custody of evidence."

The special master's report also said testimony indicated that, in the hours before Kline's successor was sworn in, a top aide decided to have documents obtained from Tiller's clinic copied so they could be brought to Johnson County.

Reed and another investigator went to the nearest Kinko's. Three employees were present but didn't participate and, according to the report, "No one was able to look at the records."

"It does not appear that any of the attorneys involved with the investigation at the attorney general's office saw a need, whether legally required or not, to handle the transfer of investigative materials to the Johnson County district attorney in a manner that stood up the highest scrutiny," the report said. "Surely such scrutiny should have been expected."

But the report said that as the incoming district attorney, Kline initially was denied access to a locked storage area. An employee considered the office "wide open" and wanted to assess security, considering Reed's apartment safer for storage.

The report also considered allegations by Planned Parenthood that Kline or someone working for him as attorney general leaked medical records to Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly before the 2006 election.

When Kline appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" just four days before Kansans voted, O'Reilly said he had seen abortion records from Kansas and criticized Tiller. The special master said the claim that documents were leaked rests on "suspicion and assumptions that are not supported by facts."

Copyright 2008 Associated Press