Atchison County to send letter seeking discussion with Leavenworth County over juvenile corrections advisory board

Atchison County commissioners on Oct. 14 approved sending a draft letter to the Leavenworth County Board of Commissioners seeking a joint discussion about the status of the juvenile corrections advisory board (JCAB) and potential next steps.

County counselor Mr. Henderson briefed the board. He said Leavenworth County adopted a resolution more than a year ago to start its own JCAB, and that when it did so it did not follow some formalities—specifically, the chief judge of the district did not provide recommended appointments. Because the chief judge did not appoint members for Leavenworth’s new board, Henderson said the Leavenworth board’s membership has not been formally appointed. Henderson told the commission that the First Judicial District JCAB has continued to meet and that Department of Corrections staff have been uncertain which board to recognize.

The county counselor said he had drafted a letter to the Kansas attorney general requesting an opinion on the status of the two boards, but Commissioner Quinn had earlier suggested first attempting a dialogue with Leavenworth County to try to resolve the issue informally. Henderson presented a draft letter from Atchison County asking whether Leavenworth County would be willing to discuss the matter before the county seeks an attorney general opinion.

Commissioners voted to send the draft letter and place it on county letterhead. The motion passed by voice vote, 2 to 0 (Commissioners Quinn and Knoll voting yes; Commissioner Campbell absent).