By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
There are many variables in the criminal justice world. As such, the number of cases filed each year by the Barton County Attorney's Office will fluctuate. County Attorney Levi Morris provided 2022 figures to the Barton County Commission during Wednesday's meeting. He opened with a new low of 1,016 traffic cases.
"When I showed up, it was 1,900 traffic cases," Morris said. "I've come in every year and said we're filing fewer traffic cases. That has almost nothing to do with us and everything to do with law enforcement. I'm not complaining, I'm not blaming anybody. I'm just saying it's a function of people in the streets and how many people speed and get caught speeding and the like."
The county attorney's office filed 75 juvenile offender cases in 2022, up from approximately 50 in previous years. The number of care in treatment cases increased two to 45, and the number of adult criminal cases was down slightly to 468.
"It was 580 before I arrived," said Morris. "It's been 476, 492, 473, so it's a little low. I think it's a little low this year because we were shorthanded for four months again."
Morris also updated the commission on new computer software his office is using, and on the departure of Assistant County Attorney Colin Reynolds, who was appointed as the new county attorney for Miami County in Paola.