December 28, 2020

Three newly elected members of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners along with re-elected Sheriff Calvin Hayden and District Attorney Steve Howe will take the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 11.

Due to the safety and health recommendations to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the event is expected to be held virtually. The ceremony will be live-streamed on boccmeetings.jocogov.org and Facebook Live.

New county commissioners are:

Jeff Meyers, Shawnee, representing the Second District. The district includes Shawnee, Lake Quivira, the northern half of Lenexa and a small southeast portion of Bonner Springs.

Charlotte O’Hara, Olathe, representing the Third District. The district includes parts of Overland Park, Stilwell and unincorporated Johnson County.

Shirley Allenbrand, Olathe, representing the Sixth District. The district is made up of a bulk of Johnson County’s unincorporated area that stretches to the southern and western county lines. In addition to the rural area, the district includes the communities of Gardner, De Soto and Edgerton, along with the western portions of the city of Olathe. The district also includes the townships of Gardner, Lexington, McCamish and Olathe.

Howe was re-elected to serve his fourth four-year term as district attorney. He was an assistant district attorney in Shawnee County from 1988 until joining the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office in 1991 as an assistant district attorney. He left the office in early 2007 to enter private practice until he was elected district attorney a year later, beginning his first term.

Hayden starts his second four-year term as sheriff since being elected to the office in 2016. He retired from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in 2008 with a rank of lieutenant after 27 years. Hayden also served as a Sixth District commissioner from 2009-2013.

The final session for the three outgoing County Commissioners Jim Allen who served three terms representing the Second District; Steve Klika, two terms on the Third District; and Mike Brown, one term on the Sixth District will be Jan. 7. The first business session for the three new county commissioners (Meyers, O’Hara and Allenbrand) will be Jan. 14. Both sessions will take place virtually.

Johnson County Government and the Board of County Commissioners want to deeply thank outgoing Commissioners Allen, Klika and Brown for their years of public service and leadership.

The new board features four female commissioners with O’Hara and Allenbrand joining First District Commissioner Becky Fast and Fourth District Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick for a woman majority of the seven-member BOCC for the first time in more than two decades. The board, then with five members had four women commissioners for a couple of years in the mid-1990s.

More information about the swearing-in ceremony is available by calling the Office of the Board of County Commissioners at 913-715-0430.