KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.
Jackson County is making changes in how domestic violence and drug distribution cases are handled. Certain incidents are going straight to the Jackson County courthouse.
Prosecuting Attorney Melesa Johnson sent a letter to law enforcement agencies and the municipal courts outlining the policy guidelines within her first few weeks of taking office.
"We have a lot of work to do, and we're prepared to do it," Johnson said.
Johnson's policy letter streamlines the process of holding abusers and drug dealers accountable for felony-level consequences.
"It is coming straight to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office for felony charge consideration," Johnson said. "My hope is that we are able to send a deterring message out into the community that if you conduct yourself in these ways or commit these offenses, consequences will be certain to follow."
The previous policy required law enforcement agencies and municipal courts to send drug distribution cases that only had a connection to violence to the Jackson County Prosecutor's office. Johnson is expanding that to all drug distribution cases.
"We see people suffering from drug use and it is my opinion that we absolutely have to cut those distributions off at the faucet," Johnson said. "What we're trying to do here is get out in front of these incidents before it reaches a level that is irreversible. We can't bring somebody's child back, we can't bring a child's mother or father back. We can check this behavior before it is too late."
Johnson explained that 28.5 percent of homicides in 2024 were related to domestic violence or arguments. Thirty-eight percent of homicides in 2023 were connected to domestic violence. Those numbers prompted Johnson's policy to review more cases as felony charges.
Violence prevention advocates see it as a positive and welcome change.
"It's going to be much more effective in our work to end this cycle of violence that's happening because if we don't hold people accountable they will continue to do it," Mary Ann Metheny said.
Metheny is the CEO of Hope House, a domestic violence shelter and resource center in Lee's Summit. She explained how she sees domestic violence cases being dismissed, slipping through the cracks or abusers back out on the streets more often than she would like to.
"If there are more severe sentences, if somebody is going to face longer terms and they are going to go to prison they won't be out and they won't harm that person," Metheny said.
One of the most prominent dangers with domestic violence abusers is when survivors decide to leave or report that behavior to law enforcement.
"The danger level really does increase for that person because domestic violence is about power and control," Metheny said. "I do think that [these policies] allow the system, whether it be judicial or law enforcement, to see where there are cracks or there are problems that they can go and address."
Any abuse cases involving strangulation, stitches, broken bones, or even weapons immediately go to the Jackson County Prosecutor's office for felony charges, no longer going to the lower court system.
"My hope is that we get more prolific domestic violence abusers off of the street instead of the revolving door that is the municipal court right now," Johnson said. "Our municipal court attorneys are very qualified, but they need to be focusing on the repeat traffic offenders, on the nuisance violations, the municipal trespassing. If somebody is being strangled to the point where they nearly lost their life, that's intended for us."
Metheny explained her excitement for the change these new policies will bring.
"The more that our system is there for the victim, the better it's going to be."
—