KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Prairie Village and Leawood. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
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It's tough to find housing in today's market, but there are some families who struggle to keep it.
KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson found out there's a stronger chance of families avoiding eviction if they live in Johnson County.
She met Judge John McEntee on Thursday to discuss how the county handles eviction cases.
"Aside from weddings, I don't get a lot of smiles in the courtroom," he said. "So many times I see a mom with kids."
On Thursdays and Fridays, eviction cases are on his docket.
It's Judge McEntee's job to preside over the cases, but he does not want to see families end up in his courtroom.
"It was awful when I took the bench," he said. "It was December 27. I had a docket the next day. I never did landlord-tenant work. It dawned on me that it is five days after Christmas. It’s cold out and I'm literally putting people out of their housing."
Kansas has an aggressive eviction law. The statute allows a landlord to file an eviction petition after three days of delinquency.
According to Judge McEntee, the judge has fourteen days from the first court appearance to resolve who can possess the property.
Johnson County is the only county in Kansas that mandates mediation before a case reaches eviction court.
"During the pandemic, I was getting calls from constituents just heartbreaking stories...a veteran receiving cancer treatment got an eviction notice, a single mother with children who lost her childcare got an eviction notice, a truck driver who broke his leg and couldn't work and didn't have health insurance," said Johnson County Commissioner Becky Fast.
In 2023, Commissioner Fast got McEntee on board, along with the sheriff's office and the county's housing services, to create a mediation program.
The eviction mediation program celebrated its third anniversary in September and recently received an achievement award from the National Association of Counties.
The program has mediated 711 agreements, and only 1% of cases went to eviction court.
"A lot of people are one month off or less than one month off from eviction," Commissioner Fast said. "The hope is that it won’t be for life — that we give some second chances to people."
The mediation program involves a neutral party helping a landlord and tenant come to an agreement to avoid eviction.
Under current Kansas law, eviction follows a tenant for life. It's a permanent record.
"I watched the mediation one day and a lot of people, single mothers say, 'I do not want that sheriff on my doorstep, I don't want my children seeing that,'" Fast said.
A neutral party helps the landlord and tenant come to an agreement to avoid eviction. An agreement could involve a tenant paying a past due balance and voluntarily moving out without a court order.
The Kansas legislature is taking note.
This year, Kansas Rep. Cyndi Howerton and Rep. Leah Howell introduced House Bill 2357, which would require eviction mediation and seal and expunge records in eviction cases.
"Not only is it a court case, but it’s a person’s housing," McEntee said. "If it's expanded across the state, I'd like to think Johnson County was the reason it was picked up and moved to the other 104 counties."
