KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Wyandotte County Board of County Commissioners approved funding Tuesday to digitize case files at the county's district attorney's office.
The commissioners met in special session and voted unanimously for a plan to spend $1.7 million for the project.
Just over $1 million will come from a county debt issue.
Most of the rest of the money needed will come from the county's allotment of American Rescue Plan, which is money distributed to local governments across the county during the COVID-19 crisis.
The main reason Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree asked commissioners for the money is to make it easier for investigators to find and review criminal cases handled by disgraced former KCKPD detective Roger Goubski.
"Any case that has his name on it," Dupree said at a Monday news conference. "This software will allow us to see it and review it upon it being scanned in."
The effort to go through the case files could take two years or more.
Golubski's 35-year-career at KCKPD brought accusations of corruption and criminal activity.
Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Golubski and three other co-defendants for their alleged roles in a sex trafficking ring.
In September, Golubski was indicted by another federal grand jury for the alleged assault of two victims while he was a police officer. The accusations grew to include seven other women.
"Golubski's tenure in law enforcement was a moral, ethical, and legal failure," KCKPD Chief of Police Karl Oakman said at a Monday news conference.
Oakman announced he'll put together a team of detectives and commanders to review the 155 cases Golubski investigated as detective from 1988 to 2002.
"I will be handpicking these individuals and make sure there's no conflict of interest or even the perception of conflict of interest," Oakman said.
The review team will look at investigative techniques used, if the evidence actually points to the named suspect or person convicted in the case, and how suspects were identified.
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