Alva Review-Courier -

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — When Andrew Knight's unemployment benefits landed in his bank account on a recent Monday instead of Thursday as usual, he thought the payment was merely early. He swiftly spent it paying rent and other bills.

But Knight and an unknown number of Kansans now face negative account balances after the Kansas Department of Labor late last week clawed back $7 million in duplicate benefits paid out to 4,500 people in error.

Knight's overdraft charge could total more than $200, a bill the laid-off dining supervisor at Holland Pathways, a substance abuse treatment center in Wichita,...