High extradition costs burden law enforcement agencies, allow known fugitives to escape justice

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas - Instead of locking up known fugitives, law enforcement agencies in the Kansas City area say they are forced to let them walk free, a problem exacerbated by cash-strapped budgets and shrinking resources.

NBC Action News found a surprising example of the issue frustrating police officers, vexing district attorneys, and possibly putting the general public at risk.

Fugitive discovered in Overland Park

In December, NBC Action News received a tip that a Blue Springs man wanted for sex crimes was living and working in Johnson County. The tipster said he had contacted authorities, who told him nothing could be done because the fugitive’s warrant only allowed him to be arrested in Missouri.

NBC Action News shot undercover video of Dennis K. Hall working as a sub-contractor at a construction project near Switzer and 127th in Overland Park. The crew also followed Hall to an extended stay motel in Lenexa.

However, a call to law enforcement confirmed that authorities in Kansas could not arrest Hall because his warrant was “non-extraditable.”

“I was shocked,” said the tipster. “I mean that is only 15 or 20 miles away.”

WARNING | The police documents linked below contain graphic information that some readers may find disturbing.

Disappearance follows 2004 sex crime charges

A graphic September, 2004 Blue Springs police report accused Hall of assaulting a 16-year-old girl. (Read the police documents). The final sentence written by Detective Martin Kreissler said, “I believe the defendant poses a danger to the community or to any other person because he has no regard for others and has been the suspect of other sexual assaults in Jackson County.”

Police could not find Hall after issuing a warrant for his arrest, but he was picked up a month later by the Missouri Highway Patrol during a traffic stop in Warrensburg.

The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Hall with furnishing pornographic material to a minor, indecent exposure, and third-degree assault.

Hall posted bond and then disappeared. His charges were misdemeanors and the extradition instructions on his warrant only included arrests in Missouri.

Common problem for law enforcement

NBC Action News showed the undercover video to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Tom Erickson, a spokesman for the department, said a lot of fugitives know where they can and cannot be picked up by authorities.

At any given time, Johnson County has about 9,000 active warrants. Jackson County has about 12,000. Nationwide there are an estimated 1.8 million warrants entered into the National Crime Information Center database.

Law enforcement agencies typically pay the costs of extradition for violent crimes and other felony charges. Erickson said the vast majority of non-extraditable warrants are misdemeanors for things like unpaid parking tickets, child support, or writing bad checks.

He said Hall’s case is an anomaly. However, he remembers making a traffic stop in Mission, Kan. several years ago. Entering the driver’s information into the system revealed he had an outstanding warrant for a rape charge on the east coast. But the warrant was non-extraditable. Legally, Erickson had no authority to arrest and detain the suspect in Kansas.

“On a charge like that, you really think about what the person did,” said Erickson. “You wonder why they are walking around and not facing the charges.”

Every decision not to extradite can be risky, considering there is a chance some suspects could one day commit a more serious offense.

A recent high-profile case highlights the problem. Last June in Tampa, Florida, a man with a non-extraditable warrant shot and killed two police officers. The shooter was a convicted felon wanted for writing bad checks.

Extradition costs add up for law enforcement agencies

The Jackson County Sheriff's Department is now using a private service for extradition services outside the metro area to save on transportation costs and loss of man hours, according spokesman Colonel Ben Kenney. Jackson County deputies in the warrant division now concentrate on serving high-risk felony warrants in the Kansas City area.

Sgt. Martin Hendrickson heads Jackson County's warrants division and said in 2010, there were roughly 190 fugitives extradited from out-of-state at a cost of $140,000. He said the Missouri Department of Corrections reimburses the sheriff's department for that money.

"The private company charges a flat fee for mileage, whereas we would need to pay deputies' salaries, airfare costs, hotel stays and meals if we picked them up ourselves," said Hendrickson. "The alternative saves the taxpayers money."

In 2010, the Missouri Department of Corrections reimbursed county sheriff's departments and the City of St. Louis Police Department extradition costs totalling $1.9 million, according to spokesman Chris Kline.

In Johnson County, the sheriff's department paid a private company for 210 out-of-state extraditions at a cost of $141,404.

However, unlike in Missouri, Johnson County did not get reimbursed for those costs by the state. Erickson said the county tries to collect extradition costs by adding them into defendants' court fees. But of the amount spent on 2010 extraditions, the county has only received $29,643.

"It's the cost of doing business," Erickson said.

Governor’s signature solves extradition blockade

Since NBC Action News could pinpoint an exact location for Dennis Hall, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office filed the paperwork for a “governor’s warrant,” which is issued when one state requests the extradition of a fugitive or inmate from another state. The warrant indicates that the issuing state believes it has a good criminal case against the suspect.

However, the process is lengthy and includes several different layers of bureaucracy to get accomplished.

From Jackson County, the paperwork traveled to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office for review. Once approved, it then jumped to Governor Jay Nixon’s extradition officer for processing. Next, it was mailed to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback for similar action. Finally, it landed in the hands of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department’s fugitive squad.

Arrested six years after disappearing

Nearly two months after first watching Hall work at the Overland Park construction site, NBC Action News was there as deputies surrounded the area, quickly closed in and put him in handcuffs.

“He didn’t really say much at all,” said Sgt. Brian Hill. “He did acknowledge that he was aware of a couple of warrants out of Missouri.”

Hall covered his face when he saw the NBC Action News camera and did not answer any questions about avoiding the charges he first faced more than six years ago.

To the pastor of the neighboring church and daycare, there was relief seeing Hall disappear in the back of the squad car, knowing he had been working just across the parking lot for weeks. Colby Kinser was contacted by NBC Action News the week before the arrest to discuss the extradition issue and how it had taken center stage right next to the church.

Kinser said he and staff members did not want to overreact to the fugitive working about 100 yards away, but did want to take proper precautions. He was relieved the arrest didn’t occur just as parents were dropping off their kids in the morning.

“We’re breathing a bit easier than we were before,” said Kinser. “Were kids in danger in this case? I don’t know. But we certainly hope the law would not be allowing that to occur unnecessarily.”

However with cash-strapped budgets, the cost of extradition means there could be other cases like Hall. That means law enforcement agencies could be forced to continue letting fugitives walk free.

Tuesday night, Hall posted his $5,000 dollar bond. His next court date is March 9.

Investigative reporter Ryan Kath can be reached at kath@nbcactionnews.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or Facebook.