Democratic race for Prosecuting Attorney gets heated

By Kathy Feist

Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker has chosen not to run for re-election this year. Four trial attorneys are ready to take on that role. Democrats John Gromowsky, Stephanie Burton and Melesa Johnson compete in the August 6th primary. The winner will run against Tracey Chappell who is unopposed on the Republican ballot. (The Telegraph will have Chappell’s interview in the General Election issue in November.)

John Gromowsky

John Gromowsky grew up in the Waldo/Red Bridge area, attending Rockhurst High School before graduating from West Point and serving as an Infantry Officer in the Army.  In DePaul University College of Law in 1998. He has been a trial attorney since then, starting his own firm before becoming Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Jackson County.  Gromowsky believes the County Prosecution office can rebuild faith with the community by being swift with justice.

Swifter Prosecution

Gromowsky says Jackson County sentencing is processed slower than the average rate in Missouri, taking a couple years longer. That needs to change. “Studies show that where justice is swift, where justice is certain and where justice, when appropriate, is severe, it drives down crime.” 

His solution is to create standard policies and procedures within the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. He refers to a practice he learned in the infantry. “When we talked about defending a position, we wrote it down in the Battle Book. This was the policies and procedures of our unit. That way, if someone went down, the next person could pick up that battle book, step right in and know exactly how they’re going to engage an enemy. We don’t have that in the Prosecutor’s Office.”  

Gromowsky also thinks frequent communication with defending attorneys and judges would help expedite cases. 

Non-violent crimes

Gromowsky assures that property crimes are being prosecuted despite what people think. He believes communication in this regard is necessary. “We need to do a better job of letting people know what we’re up to, so that perception matches reality.” 

Gromosky says, unlike the current system, all non-violent crimes should be prosecuted and offenders sent to divergent programs to learn how to become productive members of the community. When that does not work, then the offender should be prosecuted with detention in mind. 

Drug Cases

Peters-Baker announced in 2021 that the Prosecutor’s Office would no longer prosecute non-violent drug cases. But Gromowsky believes differently. “If felony offenses are being committed, if they’re being investigated by police, and if police make arrests and bring those cases to the prosecutor’s office, then felony cases need to be handled by the Jackson County prosecutors often.” 

Abortion Misconception

Gromowsky would like to make clear his stance on abortion, for which he has been criticized by his opponents. “I believe the State has no business regulating the medical or moral decisions of the people of Jackson County. That’s why I signed the petition to try to make a constitutional change regarding the issue of abortion…..If there is a Jackson County case addressing the abortion issue, it needs to be brought to me and not to the State Attorney General’s Office. I want the shield that will allow us to protect Jackson County women from Jefferson City justice.”

Stephanie Burton

Stephanie Burton grew up in California but received her Doctorate of Law degree from UMKC in 2010 while raising four children as a single mother. She spent 240 hours pro-bono with the  Midwest Innocence Project and the Death Penalty Litigation Clinic. As a trial lawyer, she is licensed in jurisdictions in five states. She believes a fractured relationship with law enforcement increases the crime rate. “If you’re going to talk about violence prevention, you’ve got to adequately and properly fund your police department.” 

Swifter Prosecution

Burton says the current prosecution moves too slowly, allowing cases to languish for two to four years before there is a resolution. Part of the reason is because information on the case is not immediately collected. As Prosecuting Attorney she says she will have on-call prosecutors at the scene of the crime. 

She says she would enact vertical prosecution, in which the attorney who charges the case is the same attorney who keeps the case for the duration of the criminal process. Vertical prosecution is used in Independence, she says, but not in Kansas City. 

Non-violent Crimes

Burton acknowledges that property crimes are currently not being prosecuted. “This is a  mistake. When you fail to prosecute your car thefts or your car break ins, generally, those escalate into violent crimes.” 

Drugs

She applauds Jackson County’s Drug Court which offers resources for those with non-violent drug offenses. However, she recognizes that many times, offenders are self-medicating for undiagnosed mental issues. She plans to have a mental health professional on staff who can help determine whether a case is more appropriate for mental health court or drug court. This would give the offender the help needed plus alleviate a clogged system.  

Wrongful Conviction

Burton would like to decrease wrongful convictions by creating a Conviction Integrity Unit consisting of an experienced post-conviction attorney, investigator and staff to filter the cases.  

Melesa Johnson

Melesa Johnson still lives in the neighborhood where she grew up around 41st and Prospect. “I want to stay close to the problems so I can be the solution,” she states in her website. Johnson is currently Kansas City’s Director of Public Safety, a role she helped create in 2023 that serves as a liaison between City Hall and the Police Department. In 2021 she was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff in the Mayor’s Office. She graduated with a Doctorate of Law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law in 2014. Her legal career includes assistant Jackson County prosecutor and Combat Commissioner. Johnson says “I don’t plan on being soft on crime…I plan on being smart on crime.” 

Drugs

Jean Peters-Baker announced in 2021 that the Prosecutors Office would not prosecute non-violent drug cases. Johnson feels this is a mistake. She plans on prosecuting cases that involve distribution whether there is violence or not. “When we don’t prosecute those cases, we can’t execute search warrants that allow us to compensate weapons that can no longer be used in a fatal or non-fatal shooting,” she says. She says Kansas City, KS, has seen a decrease in homicides since they began aggressively prosecuting drug distributors three years ago.

 Johnson plans to create a new diversion opportunity program for non-violent drug distributors, called Opportunity Court.  “We have Veterans Court, Drug Court, Mental Health [court] already active in Jackson County, but we don’t have a specialty court tailored to the leading root cause of crime, and that is poverty,” she says. The Opportunity Court would connect offenders with workforce development opportunities and provide conflict resolution training, self defense and financial literacy courses. 

Property Crimes

Johnson says property crimes fall to the bottom of the totem pole of importance in the nonviolent property crimes cases. Her solution is to create a separate, stand-alone property crimes division in which law students (under supervision) handle the cases. “The victims feel heard and advocated for. Students get practical experience to supplement their legal education,  most importantly, the offenders are charged and held accountable so that we can check criminality before it naturally continues to escalate.”

Defunding Misconception

Johnson was Deputy Chief of Staff in 2021 when Mayor Lucas and the City Council voted to cut $42 million from the police budget. She clears up any misunderstandings on the actions taken then.  “In Ordinance 220216, the City Council reallocated any funding the police department received over the 20 percent threshold and moved it into a different account, allowing them to have more say over how those funds are used,” she says. “But the only entity that could ever access the reallocated funds was the Board of Police Commissioners, and that’s in the first paragraph of that ordinance. So the notion that Mayor Lucas, or with any participation by myself, ‘defunded’ the police, is just false.” She emphasizes the current administration has increased its funding to the police department “every single year that Mayor Lucas has been in office.”