Kansas legislators have differing assessments of Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Rob Siedlecki (SEYED’-leh-kee), who is stepping down at the end of the year.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Democrat from Topeka, said Thursday that the secretary’s tenure of just less than a year was marked by controversy and — in Hensley’s opinion — incompetence.

Hensley is critical of a proposal from Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration to move juvenile justice programs into SRS. He also opposed an effort to close the SRS office in Lawrence, which eventually failed.

But Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn said Siedlecki started a conversation about improving the agency and fighting fraud.