Lee's Summit Municipal Court 'drowning' in cases; staff says court's system's outdated

KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.

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Lee's Summit Municipal Court staff said they are still operating the same way they did in 1981; even with an increase the the city's population of over 70,000 people.

The two-judge court holds court dockets two days a week. The increase in the city's population caused the judge's caseloads to skyrocket.

"If we have a really light day, we might have only 300 cases on the docket," Court Administrator Amanda Squires said "A heavy day could be upwards of 800 cases on the docket."
Those higher days pack the courtroom and cause long wait times, according to Squires.

Squires told KSHB 41's Lee's Summit Replorter Braden Bates that "we end up with people lining the walls, essentially, because we just, we don't have enough seats," Squires said. "Sometimes they think it's gonna be, they're going to be here for 30 minutes and they're here for three hours."

Municipal Court Judge Venessa Lopez said the number of cases makes it almost impossible to give each one an appropriate amount of time.

"Working on 720 people, that would have been like 23 seconds per person. It's not enough time for them to even walk up and I have to move on," Lopez told Lee's Summit City Council members on July 14.

City of Lee's Summit

Court staff said this is not only impacting the people they serve, but it is also impacting the court's effectiveness.

Probation officers at the courts also handle large caseloads.

"To better understand my caseload, I have about 600 clients under supervision," Probation Officer Brett Morris told the city council on July 14. "I signed up on average 25 to 40 new clients every week,

Morris said this forces him and other probation officers to work well over their scheduled hours.

"I have missed or have been late to many family functions, including my child's football practices, uh, student award ceremonies," Morris said. "Some nights I've even worked from home in order to try to maintain my caseload," said Morris.

The court handles a variety of cases.

"We handle cases ranging from traffic violations up to domestic violence cases," said Squires.

Some cases require more time, so the judges and court staff plan accordingly.

City of Lee's Summit

Judge Dana Altieri and Judge Lopez said they've been asking for changes for some time now. Both dedicated extra time to serve the court and help with the large caseloads.

KSHB 41 obtained a photo from June 12, 2025, of the court with writing on brown paper bags asking people to email city council members if they're frustrated with their wait times.

KSHB 41

Lee's Summit City Manager Mark Dunning said changes should be coming.

When asked about the priority level for these changes, Dunning said the situation is to be addressed.

"Yeah, they're pretty urgent and I heard that very directly from the council. We need to get on this," Dunning said.

KSHB 41

In November 2025, judges Altieri and Lopez presented to the city council the needs of the court.

Dunning requested an audit of the court, which was completed and presented at the July 14 city council meeting.

As for who makes the decision on the days the court operates, Dunning said judges choose how many days they open their dockets, but the city also has work to do before any changes take effect.

"We're going to need time on the city's side to make sure our law enforcement officials know how that is going to impact them," Dunning said.

The added days would also mean staff would need to be present. With that being the case, salaries and compensation become an added discussion.

Two additional staff members have already been allocated to the court, and Dunning said other changes are being discussed.

The court hopes they can work out additional docket days and add more probation officers to ease the case loads.

"We wanna make sure that we're treating their cases with the time and attention that they deserve, and that we're giving them an outcome that they think is fair and, and they think that they've been treated fairly by us," said Squires.

KSHB 41 News wants readers and viewers to know Judge Lopez is married to the city's mayor, Beto Lopez.

The mayor has recused himself from all conversation about the municipal court, including financial discussions.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has beenconverted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Oureditorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms forfairness and accuracy.