Kansas

Kansas City voters to decide April 8 on funding for proposed detention center

Published

12 months ago

March 11, 2025

Kansas City voters to decide April 8 on funding for proposed detention center

KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.

Kansas City, Missouri, leaders want to build a new jail as one solution to the problem of crime in the city.

Kansas City does not have its own municipal detention center.

In less than a month, voters will vote to decide how the proposed detention center will be funded.

If Kansas City builds its detention center, it would go next to where Jackson County is building its jail.

It would cost more than $200 million to build, which is an expense Kansas City Councilman Crispin Rea explained is only possible if voters renew the public sales tax.

Jack McCormick

“We’ve already paid this tax for 15 years,” Councilmember Rea said. “There will be no increase in sales tax. It will be a quarter-cent sales tax, which is what we have utilized in the past.”

The tax currently funds public safety infrastructure, including Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department and Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department buildings and resources.

“Kansas City residents pay this tax, but so do a lot of visitors,” Rea said. “Anytime someone is coming and making purchases in Kansas City from outside of Kansas City, they’re paying into the sales tax, and we get to utilize that revenue to make our city safer.”

Multiple businesses suffered from the recent string of property crimes.

The Bar West Plaza has been broken into twice. Owner Amy Turpin supports the detention center as a part of the solution.

“More taxes, we all can’t wait for that,” Turpin laughed. “But if it’s for the better, then we’ll just have to suck it up.”

Grunauer Restaurant is located in the Crossroads Arts District, the center of where property crimes have been occurring in Kansas City.

The restaurant’s owner explained that a local detention center is an important part of public safety in the city.

“Not having a detention facility for a city our size is a major handicap for police to be able to do their job,” Nicholas Grunauer said. “The benefit of paying taxes is that you have a safe and stable community. This isn’t necessarily going to guarantee that, but it’s a necessary step to tackle a lot of these quality of life issues.”

Everyone agrees that Kansas City, Missouri, crime needs a strong solution, but there’s a disconnect on what should be funded by taxpayers.

“It’s about trust, it’s about accountability, and it’s about whether our city makes fiscally responsible decisions,” Decarcerate KC Executive Director Amaia Cook said.

At a town hall forum Monday in south Kansas City, opponents of the sales tax renewal argued the money should go toward crime prevention, not incarceration measures.

“I don’t want us, our kids, and our grandkids having to pay for a tax that isn’t going to address these root causes and going to continue to cycle people in and out of jail,” Cook said.

Proponents like Councilwoman Melissa Patterson Hazley noted a concerning challenge of not having a local detention center.

“These [repeat offenders] are fully aware that they can keep misbehaving, and there’s not really a lot that we can do about it,” she said.

Another problem is that offenders placed in Vernon and Johnson County jails aren’t under Kansas City jurisdiction, often leading to premature releases.

“If we have somebody who is combative or extremely mentally ill, [the jails] are saying we won’t take them, and we have no place to put them,” Municipal Court Judge Martina Peterson said. “They release them back on the street.”

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Kansas

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

Published

17 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.

WIBW Scoreboard

BOYS

5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)

5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)

3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)

3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)

GIRLS

6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)

4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)

2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)

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Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

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Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.

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