What's next? Lee's Summit Municipal Court still 'overwhelmed' as city council ordinance fails

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

—

Lee's Summit Municipal Court judges said they are back to square one after a city council vote Tuesday night.

The Lee's Summit City Council failed to pass an ordinance that would have compensated judges for the additional workload days they proposed adding to their schedules.

"It is 4-4, so the motion fails," Lee's Summit Mayor Pro Tem Donnie Funk said.

City of Lee's Summit

This was the second reading of the ordinance. The first reading passed in a 4-3 vote.

The judges said they knew it would be an uphill battle as they needed five votes to pass the ordinance in the second reading.

This ordinance came as the municipal courts faced challenges with overcrowding and large caseloads.

Judge Venessa Maxwell-Lopez previously estimated they review and decide cases in 28 seconds with the amount cases they go through.

The municipal court currently operates two days a week, one day per judge. It is a system Judge Dana Altieri said is outdated.

"I don't think I had all my adult teeth when this was set," Altieri said. "This was done 41 years ago when the population was 33,000 people. This is ridiculous."

KSHB 41

With the city's population now topping 100,000, judges said growing caseloads and lengthy wait times are impacting justice.

"We can't continue to operate this way," Altieri said.

Despite the ordinance failing, city council members said they remain committed to fixing the courts. Two pathways forward were presented at the meeting.

"I would support establishing an additional division," said Hillary Shields, a councilmember who voted against the ordinance.

"What I would like to establish is a task force," Funk offered.

City of Lee's Summit

Some in attendance immediately voiced disapproval of a task force.

"A lot of taxpayers money wasted, a whole bunch," a Lee's Summit resident shouted from the audience at the city council meeting.

Since the issues were brought before the council a few years ago, the council has heard presentations from the judges and got an audit of the courts functions.

The audit, which cost the city about $80,000, pinpointed specific changes that needed to go into effect for the court to function properly.

One change was more days the judges were in the office and scheduling dockets. The judges said that won't happen as the council refused better salaries.

Another suggestion was increasing staffing in the courts. The judges said they are significantly understaffed, something the report confirmed.

City Manager Mark Dunning said the city plans on moving forward with a task force.

"We all need to be at the table to develop an approach forward," Dunning said. "If we could snap our fingers and fix this, man, we'd be done by now."

KSHB 41

The task force would gather city leaders, judges, police and other stakeholders together to work through the implementation plan.

KSHB 41 Lee's Summit reporter Braden Bates asked Dunning what a task force would find that hadn't already been said in the meetings over the last two years.

"What a task force approach can provide is a less formal discussion, collaboration," Dunning said.

He said it would break away from the more formal city council forum.

Dunning did not have any specifics on the goals and objectives for the task force, saying those would be created and discussed by city counselors and task force participants.

Another potential move forward was adding another judge.

"Immediate steps could be taken to put a third division in place," Dunning said.

This would add a court day. He said this is more of a long-term solution.

The task force is expected to be a short-term step, and it would require participation from all parties involved.

Judges said that kind of participation would be difficult given what they have dealt with.

"I would be crazy to feel supported with over there," Altieri said.

KSHB 41 News has extensively covered this story over the past several months. We will continue to follow through on any new developments..

Previous coverage:

• Lee's Summit Municipal Court 'drowning' in cases; staff says court's system is outdated
• Lee's Summit Municipal Court discussed in council meeting as staff says it's 'drowning'
• Lee's Summit City Council debates whether an elected judge should get pay increase during term
• Lee's Summit mayor removes council member as mayor pro tem; ethics questioned

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

—