DECEMBER - 2008

County Manager receives Career Achievement Award from state group

Johnson County Manager Michael B. Press was honored Thursday, Dec. 4, with a Career Achievement Award by the Kansas Association of City-County Management.

He received the award from KACM Secretary Catherine Holdeman, assistant city manager of Wichita, during the state organization’s 2008 Fall Conference in Wichita. The award was established in 2000 and is intended to recognize those professional local government managers and administrators who are retiring from the profession.

Press has announced his plans to retire from Johnson County Government on April 1, 2009, ending a career spanning more than 32 years, including serving as the county’s top manager for almost a decade.

He began his career with County Government in 1976 as a paramedic with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) known as Johnson County Medical Action, or Med-Act. In 1980, he was promoted to director of Med-Act and served until May 1999 when he was selected interim county administrator by the Board of County Commissioners. Press was named county administrator in April 2000. The position was changed to County Manager by the Board in December 2001 under the county’s new Home Rule Charter.

Press received the “Public Administrator of the Year” in 2004 by the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration, the Kansas Emergency Medical Services Association’s “EMS Administrator of the Year Award” in 1998, and the “Administrator of the Year Award” by the Mid-America Regional Council in 1981.

He and his wife, Carol, who retired in 2006, have one son, Daniel. The couple recently moved to Olathe from Overland Park.

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New Notice to Appear process for Johnson County juveniles to begin soon

Beginning in the New Year, law enforcement officers in Johnson County will have the option to issue a Notice and Agreement to Appear to non-violent juveniles who are alleged to have committed minor crimes.

The notice will be issued in lieu of the juvenile being transported to the Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) in Olathe. The juvenile and his/her parent/guardian will sign the agreement to contact JIAC staff within 24 hours to set an appointment for the booking/assessment process that would normally have taken place if the juvenile had been transported immediately to JIAC.

If the juvenile fails to make contact with JIAC staff within 24 hours and/or fails to report at a specified time for booking and assessment, JIAC staff will report the failure to the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office which may use the information for future case filing.

The new process was requested by the Johnson County Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board and the Johnson County Department of Corrections following a study of the number of juveniles that were not being transported to JIAC and were, therefore, not receiving appropriate referrals to needed community services. The board learned that approximately 2,500 juvenile offenders were being stopped by law enforcement officers in Johnson County each year, but were released back to their parents/guardians, rather than being transported to JIAC.

“It may be three to six months before the juveniles appear in court. In the meantime, the juveniles are missing needed services or interventions to prevent further criminal conduct,” Elizabeth Gillespie, director of the Department of Corrections, said.

In 2007, only 1,671 juveniles were actually transported to JIAC.

Even though the Juvenile Intake and Assessment process is mandated by state law for all juveniles who have allegedly committed offenses and for youth who are determined to be children in need of care, the Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board learned that these juvenile offenders were not being transported to JIAC because of the distances from the communities and the travel time required. Such transports take officers away from their law enforcement duties during that period of travel.

The new process should also assist the juveniles and their families by allowing them to plan for the JIAC appointment rather than be disrupted from their normal activities at the time of law enforcement contact. Juveniles who have allegedly committed more serious crimes and youth who are considered children in need of care must still be transported to JIAC immediately by law enforcement.

The Tenth Judicial District Court, which includes Johnson County, responded to the board’s request by issuing a new administrative order that authorizes the new process. The new process and form has been provided to all Johnson County law enforcement agencies.

“We are asking law enforcement to implement the new process by Jan. 1, 2009, but they may begin the process this month,” Gillespie said. “This is a positive step towards ensuring that the youth in our community receive appropriate attention and services following contact with law enforcement.”

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