Words like controversy and secrecy have followed Phill Kline throughout his political and prosecuting career.

Now a KCTV5 News investigation reveals information about Kline never before seen, shedding light on what's been rumored and whispered about for months.

The investigation started on Jan. 12.

That was when former Kansas Attorney General Kline became Johnson County district attorney after losing his re-election bid for a second term as attorney general.

Kline entered the office like a storm, sweeping aside decades of experience when he fired seven prosecutors and the chief investigator.

"The day that he fired the eight people, the seven attorneys, was the most chaotic day I had ever seen in the office," said one former insider.

The eight former employees sued Kline, alleging their dismissals were politically motivated.

For the first time in more than 20 years, the district attorney's office would not follow county personnel policies. Kline said he could fire anyone, at any time, for any reason, without repercussions.

"There was absolutely no protection, and that is why people will not speak up," said the former insider.

But this fear didn’t stop some people from talking to KCTV5 News. During the next few months, persistent rumors and accusations made their way from inside the courthouse to KCTV5. One of the accusations heard time and time again was that Kline was not at work.

The former insider KCTV5 News spoke to said there were days that she did not see Kline in the office.

"I don't know if you could use the word 'secret,' but I can tell you that we were not apprised about where he would be," the former insider said.

It was not a secret where Kline parks his car when he goes to work -- on the east side of the Johnson County courthouse, in a secured parking area protected by a fortress of court buildings, where Kline and a select few judges park.

It required a keycard to get in and out.

Each time Kline swipes in or out, it's recorded on a computer.

Using the Kansas Open Records Act, KCTV5 News asked for those records, starting with the day Kline took office.

KCTV5's request was denied.

The county claimed the disclosure would "jeopardize the security of the building and the security of the public agencies and divisions that operate in the building."

KCTV5 News sued, and months later a judge decided there was no security risk, thereby ordering the county to hand over the records.

But the eight months of data given to KCTV5 News were littered with missing information.

Some gaps showed Kline clocking into the garage but not out and out but not in.

Six weeks of key card information from May to mid-June was simply missing.

The county's explanation was that the system routinely purges the information.

KCTV5 News crunched the numbers and asked other district attorneys just what it took to get the job done.

"The district attorneys' offices within this state are very busy offices," said Robert Hecht, the Republican district attorney in Shawnee County.

Hecht started prosecuting criminals more than 40 years ago and took the top job in Shawnee County in 2001.

"This is a job that requires a lot of hands-on attention," he said. "I would say probably 90 percent of my time is actually spent in the office. I can't do it in less than roughly 50 to 60 hours a week," Hecht said.

So how does that compare to Kline's time in the office?

KCTV5's investigation discovered that there wasn't a typical Kline day, except for one thing: On many days, his car wasn't in the secured lot very long.

Kline spent one hour and 46 minutes in the lot on Feb. 8, a Thursday. He spent three hours and 27 minutes in the lot on March 1, also a Thursday.

He spent two hours and 52 minutes in the lot on April 24, a Tuesday. On Aug. 2, a Thursday, he spent two hours and 42 minutes.

KCTV5 News found 24 week days during which Kline never clocked in or out at all.

And taking the weeks where the information wasn't missing or "purged," KCTV5's investigation uncovered this -- Kline spent an average of 29 hours a week in the office while making $143,000 a year.

KCTV5 News asked the Shawnee County district attorney if he thought a district attorney could do the job in 29 hours a week in the office.

"Well, only if they were superhuman," Hecht responded.

KCTV5 asked the district attorney's office just where Kline was spending his time when he wasn't in the office and was told the information didn't exist.

And despite repeated requests for an interview with Kline, KCTV5 News was denied, even though we provided our key card information to the district attorney's office.

Kline’s spokesman, Brian Burgess, responded to KCTV5's questions with a question of his own.

"Can you tell me why he should take time out of his day to talk with you about when a garage door opens and closes?" he asked.

While there's no legal requirement for the district attorney to work any set schedule or hours, Kansas law does require district attorneys to live in the county where they work.

The former insider said Kline's residence status was discussed within the office.

"It was not the consensus that he lived in Johnson County," she said.

Kline and his wife Deborah both changed their voter registration to Johnson County just before Kline ran for district attorney, and both of their cars are registered to a Johnson County address in Stilwell, Kan. – a storage facility south of Overland Park, Kan.

The law requires this to be Kline's "residence," and if it's not, he must "resign" or be subject to "removal from office."

"I would say that people snickered at the thought that he lived in Johnson County," the insider said.

KCTV5 News caught up with Kline as he was leaving the Johnson County courthouse one afternoon and asked him about where he lived.

He pointed out that he owned a home in Topeka, but that he also had the apartment in Stilwell.

KCTV5 News frequently found his wife's car, which was also registered to the Stilwell address, at the home Phill Kline owns in Topeka.

KCTV5 spent weeks waiting and watching for him to show up there -- more than a dozen times early in the morning and late at night -- but not once did KCTV5 News see Kline in Stilwell.

On a recent evening, KCTV5 News did, however; catch Kline and his wife leaving the office heading home to Topeka. The next morning KCTV5 News watched as the two of them left their Topeka house and drove to the turnpike.

Later Deborah Kline, who also claims to live in Stilwell, returned to their home to pick up her daughter and take her to school in Topeka.

KCTV5 News asked the owners of the Stilwell property how often they saw Phill Kline.

"Good Lord, I don't know. I don't see him every time he comes," said Earnest Adair.

Adair and his wife Pat own the storage facility in Stilwell and said Phill Kline paid $400 a month to rent an upstairs apartment from them.

They are also both clearly Phill Kline supporters.

"He’s one of the greatest heroes we know," said Earnest Adair.

The Adairs say Kline lives in one of three apartments they have on site.

Pat Adair says Kline works most of the time but does in fact sleep at the Stilwell address.

"Yes, he sleeps here. Yes, absolutely sleeps here," she said.

Phill Kline, however, would not answer when asked how many nights in the last month he spent at the Stilwell address.

"I'll see you guys later," he said.