Since taking office, I have sought to publicly announce policy decisions and the reasoning behind these decisions. My hope is to help the community better understand how our criminal justice system works and the role of the District Attorney. In discussions with various groups, I’ve found that a common misconception is that the District Attorney’s Office is responsible for imposing sentences.
A victim of a crime should never be afraid to come forward. Reporting a crime is the most effective way to make our community safer by holding offenders accountable. Yet far too often, many default to a position of disbelief or distrust when survivors of sexual assault share their experiences.
When a sexual assault is in any way made public, especially because of the involvement of the criminal justice system, people typically wonder:
Senate Bill 367 (SB 367), enacted in 2016, revised the Juvenile Justice Code. One of the goals of SB 367 is to keep low risk juvenile offenders out of the juvenile offender system. K.S.A. 38-2346 mandates that effective, July 1, 2017, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office will no longer be able to offer its Juvenile Diversion program. K.S.A. 38-2346, however, establishes an Immediate Intervention Process (IIP) by which juveniles may avoid facing adjudication as a juvenile offender.
Information about dealing with traffic tickets, court appearances, payments and traffic diversion.