For Immediate Release
July 3, 2025
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson today released a six-month review highlighting the office’s work during her first six months in office, including case filing rates, prosecution outcomes, and review of her launch of several initiatives designed to enhance public safety and hold high-impact offenders accountable.
“I am incredibly proud of the progress our office has made in these first six months,” said Prosecutor Johnson. “We have more than doubled our case filing rate from January to March, while maintaining exceptional conviction rates. That’s excellence in both quantity and quality of prosecutions.”
The Prosecutor’s Office has shown steady improvement in case filing rates throughout the first half of the year. Of the total cases sent by law enforcement for review, the office filed:
- 41% in January
- 52% in February
- 79% in March
- 67% in April
- 74% in May
- 58% in June
The June filing rate reflects the office’s thorough review process, with 275 cases still under active review in June alone. Currently, 35% of all the cases sent by law enforcement are under examination by prosecutors. When cases are under review, prosecutors are working collaboratively with law enforcement to obtain additional information and carefully evaluating evidence to determine whether there is a legal basis to file criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The office follows a careful review process to ensure only cases meeting Missouri’s strict legal standards proceed to prosecution.
“Higher filing rates are meaningless if the cases we charge and proceed with are not carried through to conviction,” said Prosecutor Johnson. “We are doing our due diligence to ensure each case we charge meets Missouri’s ‘beyond a reasonable doubt standard.’”
When cases do proceed to prosecution, the results have been impressive. The office secured guilty pleas in 65% of disposed cases and achieved guilty verdicts in 99% of cases that went to trial. Additionally, 120 cases were successfully diverted to specialty courts, including Drug Court, Veterans Court, and New Start, with Drug Court specifically maintaining a more than 70% success rate.
To date, 870 unique individuals have been held accountable through the office’s efforts this year.
The Prosecutor’s Office has significantly increased community engagement, with prosecutors attending and participating in more than 70 business meetings, community events, and neighborhood association meetings. These included participation in the Downtown Council Safety Task Force, Prospect Corridor Public Safety Task Force, Marlborough Community Coalition, meetings with Westside businesses, and Midtown Public Safety Coordination.
In Prosecutor Johnson’s first month in office, she directed municipal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies in Jackson County to send serious domestic violence cases and drug distribution cases to the Prosecutor’s Office for felony charges rather than handling them at the city level. This would ensure offenders would face appropriate consequences and be deterred from reoffending.
In March, Prosecutor Johnson expanded the Crime Strategies Unit to focus on holding SAVE KC members accountable, identifying crime patterns, and targeting repeat offenders who have the greatest impact on community safety. In the last six months, CSU has received a total of 38 cases involving SAVE KC defendants. Of these 38 cases, 28 have been filed for charges and seven cases are currently under review. CSU received a total of 39 high-impact offender cases. Of those 39 cases, 24 have been filed and 10 cases are currently under review. CSU has also worked with law enforcement to charge five members of a burglary ring responsible for numerous small business burglaries across our community.
“Our expanded Crime Strategies Unit is continuing to identify the high-impact offenders who cause the most harm, and our new policies ensure serious domestic violence and drug cases receive the felony attention they deserve. While we have seen some progress in these first six months, there is still significant work ahead. This office remains committed to building on this foundation and continuing to serve our community with excellence and accountability,” said Prosecutor Johnson.
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Media Contact:
Jazzlyn Johnson
Director of Communications
Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office
415 E 12th Street
Kansas City, MO - 64106
(816) 929-1289
jazzlyn.johnson@jacksongov.org
https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com