Last week the Kansas Legislature announced a plan that would give prosecutors across the state more than two years to clear the current backlog of criminal cases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However; that additional time may not be needed in Lyon County.
During a recent interview with KVOE News, Lyon County Chief Judge Merlin Wheeler stated the county has around 60 criminal cases awaiting jury trial assignments. Trials have been suspended since the onset of the pandemic due to courts being hesitant to have large quantities of individuals inside courtrooms with the risk of infection still a possibility.
Despite this, Judge Wheeler says the county has managed to clear much of its own backlog recently due to a high volume of mitigation hearings, in which a judge from outside the district meets with defendants and representatives of the state to see if they can reach a plea agreement in the case, over the past several months. According to Wheeler, 30 to 40 percent of the cases that have gone to mitigation have been resolved since February.
Wheeler anticipates this pattern will likely continue at an impressive rate in the months to come.
The plan which passed the legislature on Monday by a vote of 114-7 would suspend a state law that is designed to protect a defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial until May of 2023 giving prosecutors roughly two and a half years to work through the backlog. Wheeler feels the legislature’s plan was more focused on larger jurisdictions with case backlogs significantly larger than in areas such as Lyon County.
