Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor expects to decide soon whether to pursue criminal charges over the shredding of state documents seen as key evidence in a criminal case against a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Taylor says he hopes to have a decision by the end of February.

At issue is a 2009 decision by the Kansas attorney general’s office to shred copies of reports to the state on individual abortions from Planned Parenthood’s clinic in Overland Park.

The shredding occurred 18 months after 107 criminal charges were filed against the clinic in Johnson County, with some alleging the clinic had falsified the reports. Once the shredding became public, a judge dismissed 49 of the charges.

The shredding has been described as routine, but abortion opponents are suspicious.