The members of the new Platte County public safety committee have been finalized.
The list was announced at the Monday, July 17 meeting of the Platte County Commission, held at the Platte County Administration Center in Platte City.
“Our call for volunteers resulted in a list of very qualified applicants,” said presiding commissioner Scott Fricker, who said three seats at the table had been reserved for appointment by law enforcement officials, with sheriff Mark Owen appointing Park University professor Greg Plumb, prosecutor Eric Zahnd appointing resident Pat Cockrill and presiding judge Thomas Fincham appointing local attorney Mark Ferguson.
Zahnd said he had appointed Cockrill, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver more than a decade ago, as a voice for victims of crime.
“This is a very impressive group of people, and all Platte Countians should be grateful they are willing to volunteer for this critical project,” Zahnd said. “Running out of jail space for violent and sexual offenders or people who simply won’t show up for court otherwise is one of the worst things that can happen to the public safety of a community. I’m thankful that these highly qualified Platte County residents are willing to step up and tackle this important issue.”
Additional committee members are April Baxter, Kenneth Brown, Jim DePriest, Roger Lewis and James McCall.
District commissioner Joe Vanover praised the members of the committee as community leaders taking on an important task and thanked them for their work to come.
As a member of the jail committee nine years ago, district commissioner Dagmar Wood said she knows the time commitment involved in such volunteerism and also thanked the committee members for stepping up.
No timeline for the committee was announced, with a date for its first meeting still pending.
Last month, commissioners put out a call for volunteers to investigate options to deal with the overcrowded Platte County Detention Center.
“In a detention facility with 180 beds and a safe maximum population of 153 inmates, the population surged to 240 inmates, at which point the Sheriff’s Department began transferring inmates to nearby counties bringing the inmate population back down to 210; still significantly above safe levels,” Fricker said last month regarding the situation at the jail. “The County Commission began regular discussions with the Sheriff’s department about ways to reduce the population, but no easy solutions emerged. And while transferring inmates back and forth from Platte City to nearby counties is an adequate short-term solution, it’s not sustainable, it’s dangerous, it’s expensive, and there’s no guarantee those jails will have space for us when we need it.”