Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd gave his annual report on felonies and misdemeanors in Platte County at the Monday, Nov. 17 meeting of the Platte County Commission.
While the number of felony crimes filed in Platte County this year has fallen, by single digits – nine fewer than last year – at 686 felonies, some of those have been major crimes. Filing for misdemeanors is up, almost to a record high, with 10,301 cases filed in comparison to 7,754 last year.
“What the numbers don’t tell you is that we have a record number of homicides,” Zahnd said, citing 15-16 homicide cases currently in the courts in Platte County. “We have more traffic homicides that are not included in those cases.”
Zahnd said the county used to have very few homicide cases, sometimes one a year, sometimes less, but over the last 20 years this trend has shifted and the county sometimes handles multiple homicides in a year.
Zahnd ran through with brief summaries of all pending homicides, with two cases pending since 2021.
“Quite frankly we have too many cases with too few judges,” Zahnd said. “We got another judge, but we need one more. This county remains very very busy. We have trials set five deep into 2025.”
Zahnd said one thing the county doesn’t do well is move cases quickly, as defendants are easily able to get continuances in cases.
“We have developed a culture in Platte County that I do not support,” he said.
“Justice delayed is justice denied in so many instances, particularly in homicide cases. Those families have lost a loved one and they deserve justice, and they deserve it quickly.
He suggested the county judges stop granting excessive continuances and create a standing grand jury to hear cases to move cases along more quickly. In Buchanan County, he said, judges grant two continuances and then cases go to trial, and that speeds their courts.
Zahnd ran through the slate of murder cases, including the murder of three Chiefs fans at a party off Barry Road, and the three murder changes against Armando Navarro, which may become a death penalty case.
As of this past Friday, the sheriff’s office is housing 70 inmates at other facilities because of overcrowding at the Platte County Detention Center, Zahnd said. Speeding the courts would help to alleviate some of the crowding at the jail facility.
He said crowding at the jail facility is already allowing people out on the streets that in years past would remain in jail, he said. Counties across the state have encountered similar problems, where jails become overcrowded and the community becomes more dangerous. He cited Springfield, Mo. as an example, where Greene County was recently forced to build a new jail facility.