Melissa Johnson, the county attorney, told the Board of County Commissioners the office remains understaffed and is pursuing recruitment and retention strategies while working down a previously large backlog of cases.

Johnson said the office is on pace to file about 500 criminal cases this year (roughly 10 per week) and currently had about 1,600 open cases, down substantially from earlier counts. She said the office presently has 12 homicides or attempted homicides and about 16 aggravated assault cases filed or under review. The office also reported roughly 28 jury trials scheduled in district court, 25 of which were criminal matters.

On hiring, Johnson said the office has advertised through the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association and national job sites and is meeting with law schools, but that fewer people are entering the profession and private firms can typically pay more than public service. The county has also engaged the Arnold Group on compensation and retention work.

Johnson cited state data sources while describing trends: she said Kansas Bureau of Investigation statistics show the county’s violent crime rate per thousand people dropped from 5.3 (2021) to 3.9 (latest report), and she described use of the Kansas Sentencing Commission public dashboard to compare sentencings. According to figures Johnson provided from that dashboard, Montgomery County recorded 101 felony sentencings in 2022 and 209 in 2024; drug sentencings have doubled since 2022 and several other felony categories rose as well.

Johnson warned the current pace of filings and trials is not sustainable without additional staff or process changes. She said the office is using a paralegal to help with preparatory work and exploring other ways to free attorney time. She also noted factors delaying cases include attorney conflicts, court reporter shortages and the complexity of higher-level cases.

Ending: Johnson said staff will continue recruitment efforts, use retention measures the county is implementing, and return with updates. She provided commissioners with links to the Kansas Sentencing Commission dashboard for review.