Platte County prosecutor Eric Zahnd has reiterated the duties and needs of his office twice in recent weeks — to both the Platte County Commission and to the commission-appointed tax advisory committee.
Last week, Zahnd made his annual presentation of prosecutor’s office activities to commissioners, noting that Platte County is the fastest-growing county in Missouri and its law enforcement needs have increased with that growth. In a trend he has pointed out for several years, serious crime is increasing in Platte County. While misdemeanors, particularly those involving bad checks, have stayed stagnant or reduced over the past 10 years, felony cases are on the rise. In 2019, the prosecutor’s office filed 698 felony cases, up from 653 felonies in 2018, a seven percent hike. In contrast, in 2008, prosecutors filed only 416 felony cases.
Zahnd said there are many reasons why serious crime is on the increase, but one of the major reasons is the spread of crime from Kansas City’s urban core.
“Kansas City’s urban core is one of the most dangerous in the nation,” he said, adding that Kansas City and its suburbs are not unique as this is a nation-wide trend.
Zahnd is Missouri’s longest-serving prosecutor, taking office in 2002. He said during his first 13 years in office, there were no drug-related shooting cases in Platte County. Within the last five years, however, there have been a half dozen incidents, with three ending in death.
In addition, Missouri has eliminated its state Fine Collection Center, forcing counties to handle traffic tickets at the local level. Platte County has prosecuted 8,000 traffic tickets in the last year — the highest total in the state.
In the prosecutors office, there are 11 assistant prosecuting attorneys, two of which are part-time employees. The last full-time assistant prosecutor was hired in 2008.
“So we have the same staff handling a 68 percent increase in felony filings over the last 10 years,” Zahnd said.
At the Tuesday, Nov. 12 meeting of the tax advisory committee, Zahnd and sheriff Mark Owen presented their 10-year budgets and the funding challenges faced by both departments.
Zahnd told the committee that at the minimum his office needs to add five assistant prosecuting attorneys and at least two support staff over the next decade. Again in comparison to 2008, Zahnd said his staff went from some of the most highly paid in the state to the lowest paid county prosecutors. This has led to the loss of 10 assistant prosecutors as they move on to private practice or other, better-paying positions.
Before the office could add more than three new employees, however, the physical space problems will need to be addressed. The prosecutor’s office, located on the third floor of the old county courthouse, is out of space, Zahnd said. Attorneys share facilities and the cramped conditions sometimes make confidentiality a concern. The office will be relocating its conference room to the basement of the old courthouse building to reclaim that space on the third floor, but it’s a bandaid measure.
At the Nov. 12 meeting, committee member Jim McCall had the same questions for both Zahnd and Owen — what would a law enforcement sales tax do for their offices?
Zahnd told committee members he believes the current parks tax has created a structural imbalance in funding priorities and a new law enforcement sales tax would give his department financial stability.
The response was similar to Owen’s, whose department has faced similar staffing drain due to uncompetitive salaries while at the same time calls for service have increased.
McCall also asked both men why the proposed law enforcement tax measure failed at the April ballot box.
“They didn’t run a campaign at all on the tax issue,” Zahnd said. “There were public forums, but people aren’t going to come out to those. You need to get the information into their homes.”
Owen said the forums — with the exception of one, which was held in conjunction with a Platte City Chamber of Commerce event — were poorly attended.
“The law enforcement tax didn’t pass the first time 22 years ago either,” Owen said, recalling the proposal that funded the construction of the current — now functionally full — jail facility.
Owen said his 10-year budget projections didn’t include what his department would need should the county build a new jail.
The next meeting of the tax advisory committee will be at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2 at the Platte County Resource Center.