Jackson County Courthouse

415 E.12th Street, 2nd floor

Kansas City, Missouri 64106

(816)881-3242

Jackson County Missouri

JOURNAL

County Legislature

DaRon McGee (4th) Chairman,

Donna Peyton (2nd AL) Vice Chairman,

Jalen Anderson (1st AL), Megan L. Marshall (3rd AL),

Manuel Abarca IV (1st), Venessa Huskey (2nd),

Charlie Franklin (3rd), Jeanie Lauer (5th)

Sean E. Smith (6th)

Office of

Mary Jo Spino

Clerk of the County Legislature

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

10:00 AM

Fifteenth Regular Meeting

K.C. Legislative Assembly Area, Kansas City, Missouri

DaRon McGee, Chairman, called the meeting of the Jackson County Legislature to order.

ROLL CALL

Present 8 - DaRon McGee, Donna Peyton, Jalen Anderson, Megan L.

Marshall, Manuel Abarca IV, Venessa Huskey, Charlie Franklin

and Sean E. Smith

Absent 1 - Jeanie Lauer

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Recited.

APPROVAL OF THE JOURNAL OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

A motion was made by Jalen Anderson, seconded by Donna Peyton, to

approve the journal of the previous meeting held on May 12, 2025. The

motion passed by a voice vote.

HEARINGS

Melesa Johnson, Prosecuting Attorney, was present to speak about the

impact of the current situation on the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office.

She thanked the County Legislature and the County Executive for their

work on the budget in trying to reach a resolution.

Ms. Johnson said the most obvious impact is on COMBAT. She said we

are heading into the summer months where violence is historically higher.

While the Prosecutor’s office will continue to handle business in the

courtroom, the real opportunity area is the preventative work done daily

by agencies funded by COMBAT. Many of these agencies are taking out

loans, laying people off and limiting the number of people that they serve.

COMBAT had a plan this upcoming summer to work with Family Court to

identify 20 of the most prolific juvenile offenders and create a summer

internship program specifically designed for them to include cognitive

behavioral therapy and mentorship. This program was to be funded with

the remainder of funds not used after making the awards to agencies but

unfortunately, this opportunity was missed.

Also impacted are transcripts, experts and trial strategies in the

Prosecutor’s office. They need to be very conservative with transcripts

offered both around depositions and regarding post-conviction motions

received by her office. Not having transcripts and being unable to retain

and consult with experts on the front end, has a real impact on the case

outcomes, trial strategies and cases they are able to charge. Save KC

(Stand Against Violence Kansas City) the latest initiative to address

violent crimes and gun violence continues to do their work. Her office

presented an ordinance to the County Legislature to try to enter into a

consulting contract with Mike Mansur who continues to run the messaging

component for Save KC. Mr. Mansur has not been paid, he has been

volunteering his time since January 2025. Save KC is working and

making a difference. It is unfortunate we are unable to give resources to

those people who are keeping this initiative afloat.

Her office is unable to send attorneys to valuable training courses, locally

or across the country because they are being conservative with their legal

expenses. There is a huge trial set regarding the death of Drexel Mack

and Officer Cody Allen, a death penalty case. They would like to send

their trial team to the Capital Death Penalty training hosted by the

American Prosecutor’s Association in Washington, D.C.

The Prosecutor’s office is unable to have in-person criminal mediations.

This is a disadvantage and disservice to the victims because part of the

reason for mediations is to facilitate an opportunity for the victim and the

defendant to have a restorative conversation, and the judge leads those

individuals to a plea agreement with which everyone can be comfortable.

Not being able to mediate in person is less effective. In-person mediation

is a tool they have had great success utilizing. In-person depositions are

also not able to be done as often as they would like. Investigators who

help find witnesses and key people to obtain convictions, have a vehicle

that needs repair. The vehicle cannot be serviced because there is not a

contract in place. She said this encompasses some of the issues they

continue to experience, and they are multiplying. She is extremely

concerned as we approach the summer months.

DaRon McGee asked her to elaborate on the impact of transcripts and

depositions. Melesa Johnson said sometimes it is necessary to order

transcripts to be used in trial for impeachment purposes to assess the

credibility of witnesses. If her office cannot order the transcripts, which

could be expensive, they cannot use them at trial. In addition, if they

cannot pay experts or have them on retainer, they do not have the

support to evaluate the different legal paths that they can pursue.

Mr. McGee asked about the impact on victims. Melesa Johnson said

since her staff is unable to adequately advocate for victims through the

prosecutorial process, it continues to disadvantage them. Many want

quick resolutions and want to move on with their lives, but without these

resources it just prolongs the slow justice that already exists. Without

in-person criminal mediations, victims continue to feel like bystanders in

the criminal justice system instead of active participants.

DaRon McGee asked about the residual effect on the jail. Melesa

Johnson said the detention center is currently over capacity and they may

not be able to feed the inmates or get detainees the resources they need,

which poses great concern. She said there are 860+ beds and the facility

is currently overcrowded because the Jackson County Detention Center

is not allowed to turn anyone away.

Mr. McGee asked about the need for witness advocates. Ms. Johnson

said Crime Strategies Unit data indicates that over the past three years

the Prosecutor’s office has had to decline prosecuting over 200 cases

due to the lack of witness cooperation. Her office has amazing victims’

advocates, but they do not have the same level of support for witnesses

who are crucial to helping obtain convictions. They need staff to deploy

resources and keep witnesses stable so they feel comfortable going into

a courtroom to testify so that the Prosecutor’s office can deliver justice to

the residents of Jackson County.

Donna Peyton, County Legislator, thanked the Prosecuting Attorney for

coming and sharing this vital information. She asked for an explanation of

how the absence of a budget impacts the work of her office in

cooperation with the County Counselor’s office/staff. Melesa Johnson

said there are many litigation issues that need to be handled in court. The

Prosecutor’s office uses the County Counselor’s office often. It is

important that the County Counselor’s office be well resourced and

staffed to support the work of her office.

Jalen Anderson, County Legislator, thanked Ms. Johnson for her

presentation. He said the legislation for a grant management software

system to streamline the COMBAT payment process at a cost of

$100,000.00 and a community organizer position for COMBAT at a cost

of $75,000.00 have not been passed due to no budget. He asked the

Prosecuting Attorney to talk about the need to modernize COMBAT by

adding crucial staff and getting a software program to provide a paper

trail to protect taxpayer dollars. Ms. Johnson said it is her desire to make

COMBAT function like a well-oiled philanthropic organization as intended.

Currently, COMBAT is backlogged with payments because they only use

Excel, which is counterproductive. Acquiring the grants management

system will enable them to expedite payments, send automatic reminders

about reports due from agencies and have a more consistent channel of

communication. The software will improve customer service to agencies.

She said her office was trying to fund the community organizer position

for COMBAT out of the fund balance for 2024. Since the COMBAT tax

will be on the ballot soon, it is time to reinvigorate COMBAT’s presence in

neighborhoods and in communities by having a community organizer that

can assemble resource fairs in some of the crime hot spots using

COMBAT funded agencies, who can work directly with neighborhood

associations, the City of Kansas City, AIM for Peace and even Blue

Summit. Dedicated staff is necessary so the community can see and feel

how COMBAT is making their community safer, which will make it easier

to pass the COMBAT tax.

Jalen Anderson asked the Prosecuting Attorney to explain the challenge

of the huge amounts of money received by the Prosecutor’s office from

grants. Ms. Johnson said the main federal grants used are being sunset.

With no budget, COMBAT is unable to accept grants through legislation

so there is no reason to apply. The biggest effect of federal cuts is on the

community violence intervention ecosystem. This will have a gross effect

on the community which makes it more important to get COMBAT dollars

disbursed to organizations due to the resource gaps posed by the federal

government.

Sean E. Smith, County Legislator, said the Prosecuting Attorney

mentioned a vehicle out of service. He asked if the County Executive has

issued any guidance on what can and cannot be spent under the current

budget parameters. Caleb Clifford, Chief of Staff, said yes, they have

provided guidance, and the administration has also been in

communication with the Prosecutor’s office. He said vehicles are being

repaired by other county departments. The Prosecuting Attorney’s office

has decided due to the ongoing budget discussion that they will not seek

emergency authorization for purchases. He said they may need a

separate contract which would require legislative approval. Mr. Clifford

said court transcripts are being ordered by other departments as an

operating expense. Melesa Johnson said it is her understanding that they

could only do absolutely essential spending which did not include

repairing the vehicle or ordering transcripts. She agreed with Mr. Clifford

that there is a level of discretion. She said her Chief Director of

Operations, Gina Robinson, has communicated with the County

Counselor’s office and the second floor for guidance on absolutely

essential spending.

With regards to guidance from the County Counselor’s office, Mr. Smith

asked when the guidance was issued, if it was in writing, was there any

extrapolation and what statutory authority is it based on. Whitney Miller,

Chief Deputy County Counselor, said her office has issued repeated

assurances to directors and other elected officials that the County

Counselor’s office believes an emergency purchase memo should be

used for something essential. She said operations and maintenance can

be done out of the budget.

Sean E. Smith said he is trying to understand why some COMBAT

agencies have received disbursements and others have not. Mr. Smith’s

position is that the Jackson County Code states money should only be

spent on salaries in the absence of a budget. The Administration’s

position is that money can be spent on operations and maintenance,

which he feels is what has elongated not having a budget.

Bryan Covinsky, County Counselor, said his office has been responding

on a case-by-case basis regarding operation and maintenance spending.

He said his department has been purchasing transcripts using 2024

budget line items.

Discussion regarding disbursing unappropriated funds.

Sean E. Smith asked if outside agencies could be considered operations

and maintenance since they are a regular expense and essential. He said

only being able to spend money on salaries with no budget is a strong

incentive for cooperation. However, the broader interpretation, which

ignores the County Code, states money can be spent for operations and

maintenance. This interpretation is causing the budget issue to linger and

also allows a broad range of interpretation on expenditures which

concerns him.

Megan L. Marshall, County Legislator, asked about contracts not able to

go into effect mentioned by the Prosecutor. She asked the County

Counselor if entering into contracts is a part of emergency authorization

or is it something that can be entered into through an emergency

authorization as other departments have been doing. Bryan Covinsky

said he believes they need to sit down with the Prosecutor’s office to

figure out their concerns with contracts and determine if it is operations

and maintenance. Mr. Covinsky stated that operations and maintenance

is a function mentioned in state statute and the County Code must follow

state statute. He said he is confident in the opinion his office provided in

January 2025 on this matter. He believes this position has been

supported on social media and legally it is strongly supported.

Megan L. Marshall asked if when the County enters into contracts, does it

mean funds are distributed at that point. Caleb Clifford answered no, it is

subject to appropriation.

Ms. Marshall asked what has prevented the Prosecutor’s office from

entering into contracts. Melesa Johnson talked about her reluctance to

use the emergency authorization option due to the volume of contracts to

be executed. Her preference is to use the more streamlined approach of

having a budget. They have received guidance that because there is no

budget, county operations have been halted. Megan L. Marshall asked

who told her it was not allowed. Ms. Johnson responded, the County

Counselor’s office.

Manuel Abarca IV, County Legislator, asked why the County Executive

vetoed the entire budget rather than exercising a line item veto. Caleb

Clifford said there are multiple answers. The County Counselor’s office is

an essential body for many departments and elected officials throughout

the County and they represent us in very serious issues. He said to

answer Mr. Smith’s question, the County Counselor's office is essential in

our work in determining what is the lawful path. As the official legal

opinion of the County, they need to be staffed and they need to have

funds for contracts. If the County Executive would have done a line item

veto it would not have allowed for that to be protected because line item

vetoes only take away additional funds they don’t take away reductions in

funding. Because of those limitations and the dramatic cuts made to

multiple departments, including the Department of Corrections, it was

impossible for operations to continue so the County Executive was left

with no other option as he said in his veto statement. He said the County

Executive has approved every emergency purchase that has been

declared by the legal department.

Manuel Abarca IV asked for the status on the availability of the check

registers for the County. Caleb Clifford said the Finance Department is

working on providing the reports to the Legislature that were received

prior to the County Administrator’s departure in January.

Mr. Abarca said it is the 134th day Jackson County is operating without a

budget. He asked the Prosecutor if modifying to the 2024 budget would

allow COMBAT to execute contracts. She agreed the 2024 contracts are

most pressing and if called to align with the 2024 levels to disburse the

funds and execute contracts they are prepared to do that.

Charlie Franklin, County Legislator, said they have had negotiations with

the Administration, and he has no reason to believe that they are not

moving forward. He asked Mr. Clifford if the Legislature will receive

anything today. Caleb Clifford said he does not believe anything will be

available today; he agreed negotiations have been productive and they

are moving in a positive direction. Mr. Franklin said the Legislature’s goal

is to pass something on Friday. Caleb Clifford said absolutely.

Melesa Johnson said their inability to deliver merit increases is causing

strife among staff.

Donna Peyton said she understands the confusion and applauds the

Prosecutor for sharing her interpretation. She is happy we are moving

forward with more clarity.

Sean E. Smith asked what statute or county code of ordinances restricts

merit increases being provided before a budget is passed. Bryan

Covinsky said there is nothing specific, but merit increases are

incorporated into the budget every year. Mr. Smith said merit increases

are part of an aggregate salary budget, it’s not a separate line item that

needs to be authorized. Mr. Smith said he has heard consistently that the

County Legislature is withholding merit increases. Do departments have

legal authority to invoke merit increases while they await the budget?

Caleb Clifford said the County has multiple costs centers from which

salaries are drawn, however, a merit increase cannot be paid out of a

different budget for a different department. If some departments are

allowed to provide merit increases, there will be equity and litigation

issues. Merit increases also trigger multiple labor agreements that must

also be funded.

Daron McGee thanked the Prosecuting Attorney for participating in the

legislative meeting.

Megan L. Marshall asked the County Counselor if there is anything

precluding the County Legislature from utilizing 2024 funding levels.

Bryan Covinsky said the confusion is whether new COMBAT contracts

can be considered as operations and maintenance.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH AND REPORTS OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Frank White, Jr., County Executive, was not present.

PERFECTION OF PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND REPORTS OF COMMITTEE

None.

FINAL PASSAGE OF PROPOSED ORDINANCES

Discussion regarding Ordinance #5909.

A motion was made by Megan L. Marshall, seconded by Jalen Anderson,

to hold Ordinance #5909. The motion passed by a roll call vote:

Yes: 7 - DaRon McGee, Donna Peyton, Jalen Anderson, Megan L.

Marshall, Venessa Huskey, Charlie Franklin and Sean E. Smith

Absent: 2 - Manuel Abarca IV and Jeanie Lauer

5909

AN ORDINANCE submitting to the qualified voters of Jackson County,

Missouri, at the primary election to be held on August 5, 2025, a question

to amend the Jackson County Charter, with an effective date.

(PERFECTED)

RESOLUTIONS IN COMMITTEE

None.

CONSENT AGENDA

None.

INTRODUCTION OF PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND ASSIGNMENT TO COMMITTEE

Chairman McGee said the County Legislature is awaiting a budget

ordinance from the County Executive.

INTRODUCTION OF PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS AND ASSIGNMENT TO COMMITTEE

None.

COUNTY EXECUTIVE ORDERS

None.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

None.