Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd reported prosecutions are down over the last year, but cautioned that it’s too soon to predict if this is part of a trend.
Zahnd made the annual report of prosecutions at the Monday, Nov. 20 meeting of the Platte County Commission.
“I’m happy to report filings are down,” Zahnd said. “Fewer criminal prosecutions in Platte County is always good news.”
Felony filings are down 9 percent over last year and misdemeanors are down 35 percent over last year. The three year rolling averages of felonies has increased slightly, however.
“I want to caution everyone that it’s difficult to know on a one or even a two year basis if a trend like this will continue,” he said, stating there have been year-to-year fluctuations for his entire lengthy term in office. He said everyone would need to wait to see if this was a long-term trend or a short-term dip.
Two changes in the law are driving some of the statistics, he said. For one, 17-year-olds are no longer treated as adults and are directed to the juvenile court system. Additionally, recreational marijuana was legalized, leading to far fewer prosecutions for marijuana offenses.
“I have no doubt that felony and misdemeanor case filings decreased in no small part because marijuana is now legal for recreational use in Missouri,” Zahnd said.
His fear is those low-level marijuana cases will soon be replaced by more complex cases involving the marijuana trade as well as more DWI cases involving marijuana. This has been the case in states where marijuana has been legalized, such as Colorado and California.
Additionally, Zahnd thinks filings are down because both the Platte County sheriff’s office and Kansas City police department are both understaffed and unable to bring as many cases as usual to the prosecutors.
Zahnd added that violent crime in Platte County continues to rise over the years, pointing to the Nov. 15 double shooting in Platte City as a prime example.
“We continue to prosecute far more murders and sex crimes and more serious crimes than when I first became prosecutor,” Zahnd said.
Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker noted Platte County’s reputation for prosecutions could also be a cause for the decline.
Major Erik Holland also spoke to the commissioners, providing a report on cases handled by the sheriff’s office. 2022 was a higher crime year than 2021 and since 2023 is not over it’s harder to extrapolate statistics, but he expects the year to end with a higher crime rate than 2022.