MCPHERSON – Is a change in policy in the McPherson County Attorney’s Office concerning law enforcement completing affidavits themselves causing some controversy?
In a couple a e-mails sent to the media Tuesday by County Attorney David Page, it would appear to be the case. He was responding to a request of Lindsborg newspaper.
He says he’s changing the policy where officers within the county will be required to produce their own probable cause affidavits for an arrest, rather then his office being involved with that process. In a letter sent to the various law enforcement departments in the county, Page stated that the U-S Supreme Court has stated that drafting the probable cause affidavit is a part of a law enforcement officer’s role as the “complaining witness” and not a function of the prosecutor.
He also cited the opinion of trainers of Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center near Yoder that all law enforcement officers should write their own probable cause affidavits and swear to the collective summary of their own investigations.
It apparently came up during the McPherson County Commission meeting Tuesday with the Chairman of the McPherson County Board of Commissioners. Page says Harris Terry began quizzing him about the changes and when he explained, he didn’t seem pleased, and apparently during budget talks, Page alleges that Terry threatened to reduce the size of my support staff and eliminate access of the County Attorney’s Office to the legal research software they use in the office. Page in a second e-mail to area media told us that it’s possible that Commissioner Terry’s only intentions were in regard to the county budget.
He noted that Brian Bina ran against Page in the primary election and that the commission chairman was Bina’s campaign treasurer. Page won in the primary over Bina by 367 votes, with the total 1,880 to 1,513.
No decision was made on the County Attorney Budget.
Page says the McPherson Police Department has arranged for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office to provide training for officers regarding the change in policy on September 17. Page says a member of his staff will also be available, to provide any additional training which may be necessary to ensure your officers possess the requisite tools and knowledge to draft such documents.
This new policy according to Page will begin on January 1. It should be noted that most law enforcement officers in other counties already produce such documents when making an arrest and asking prosecutors to file formal charges.
The McPherson County Attorney will only consider prosecution of a suspect of that request is accompanied by properly drafted and sworn probable cause affidavit. This requirement will apply to all criminal, juvenile (by order of the District Court), and “long form” misdemeanor traffic cases. This requirement will not apply to most other traffic cases when all charges are filed on a traffic citation. The requirement will also not apply to cases where the only matter concerns a child in need of care or a care and treatment case.