There’s bipartisan support in the state legislature to focus on shifting the criminal justice system away from mass incarceration. Freshman Republican Representative Louis Riggs of northeast Missouri’s Hannibal says he’s looking forward to GOP Governor Parson’s leadership on the issue. Riggs of Hannibal says alternatives to incarceration are important. Riggs sits […]
Tag: prison
Grundy County budget for 2019 projects deficit
Grundy County Clerk Betty Spickard reports the proposed 2019 county budget projects a balance deficit of $502,419. Estimated revenues for 2019 total 4,693,199, and estimated expenditures total $5,195,618. The budget includes a 5.8% increase in medical insurance, a 21.9% increase in worker compensation at this time, an eight percent increase in liability insurance, and a […]
Audio: Legislature approval not required for Missouri prison reorganization plan
The Missouri Department of Corrections is moving many inmates and workers at the Crossroads prison in Cameron to the nearby Western Missouri Correctional Center. Director Anne Precythe says moving to the older prison makes sense. The state has budgeted three-million dollars to convert half of Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron into a […]
Missouri Department of Corrections announces plan to consolidate Crossroads and Western correctional facilities
The Missouri Department of Corrections has announced a new plan that, if approved by the General Assembly, will help address two chronic department issues: a staffing shortage and low employee wages. The department plans to consolidate Crossroads Correctional Center (CRCC) and Western Missouri Correctional Center (WMCC), both in Cameron, Missouri. The plan calls for moving […]
Judge Thomas Alley has busy docket in Division One of Grundy County court
Several defendants were placed on probation when they appeared Thursday before Judge Thomas Alley in Division One of the Grundy County Circuit Court. Trenton resident Erick James Wattenbarger received two prison terms when he pleaded guilty. Execution of the sentences was stayed and he was placed on five years probation. The sentences issued were six […]
Audio: Additional details released on proposed shuttering of Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron
Story by Alisa Nelson of Missourinet The Crossroads Correctional Center in northwest Missouri’s Cameron could be closing. Governor Mike Parson’s state budget proposal includes shuttering the prison and moving the inmates and many of the workers to the other prison in town – the Western Missouri Correctional Center (WMCC). “As governor, I am […]
Audio: Governor Mike Parson delivers State of the State Address to Missouri Legislature
Governor Mike Parson delivered his first State of the State Address to the Missouri Legislature today. You can listen to his entire speech. Parson’s budget proposal includes closing Crossroads Prison in Cameron and moving inmates, workers mostly to Northwest Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron. The $20 million in savings would b used to give […]
Missouri Parole-Reform Lawsuit moves forward as a class action
A class-action lawsuit seeking major reforms of Missouri’s parole system just got the go-ahead from a federal judge in St. Louis. The case, Gasca vs. Precythe, alleges that the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole violates people’s due-process rights by not sufficiently educating them about their right to a hearing, and not screening them quickly or […]
Audio: Missouri attorney general wants to stop modern-day debtors’ prisons
Missouri’s attorney general has filed a brief in the state Supreme Court aiming to end the practice of modern-day debtors’ prisons. Attorney General Eric Schmitt says he opposes jailing people who cannot pay fines for traffic violations and other minor offenses. In a press release from Schmitt, he says courts should not be […]
Names released, charges filed in case involving assault on Trenton police officer
Charges have been filed and names released on the two persons arrested Saturday following an assault of a police officer in Trenton and subsequent high-speed pursuit east of Trenton. Thirty-year-old Duane Lee Shiner of Lexington faces five felony counts in addition to a probation and parole violation warrant. Twenty-three-year-old Katie Lynn Corum of Trenton was […]
Chillicothe man pleads guilty in grain marketing scheme
Various media sources report a Chillicothe man faces potential prison time and a hefty fine after pleading guilty in U-S District Court in Iowa. Randy Constant appeared in federal court Thursday and pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud in an alleged scheme to defraud that authorities claimed involving the marketing of 140 million dollars of grain […]
Judge Peace hands down several prison sentences during busy session of Division One of Grundy County court
Several prison terms were announced Thursday by Presiding Judge Jack Peace in Division One of the Grundy County Circuit Court. Following a hearing, probation was revoked for Ricky Eugene Shoemaker of Trenton stemming from several previous charges. For distribution, delivery, or manufacture of a controlled substance, Shoemaker was sentenced to ten years with the Department […]
Former Missouri man sentenced to 17-years for traveling to Tennessee for illicit sex with a minor
A former Barry County, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for traveling from Missouri to Tennessee to engage in an illicit sexual relationship with a 15-year-old victim, who became pregnant and bore his child. Michael Douglas Peterson, 35, of Morristown, Tenn., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Friday, Dec. 7, […]
Audio: Company gives away electronic tablets to Missouri prisoners who want them
Most Missouri prison inmates have been given electronic tablets and they must buy content that can go on them, including educational materials, music, movies, and games. State Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe tells Missourinet the tablets do not have cameras or outside internet access. The Missouri prison system has been dealing with […]
Audio: Missouri prisons roll out electronic tablets for most offenders to use
A company has given electronic tablets to most of Missouri’s prison population and offenders must pay for access to things like educational materials, music, movies, and games. State Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe tells Missourinet the tablets are an officer safety tool. Precythe says offenders must pay for access to things like […]
Mexican national sentenced to 12 years for meth trafficking
A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court after being arrested at a local bus station carrying a duffel bag that contained more than six pounds of methamphetamine. Jose Miguel Cabrera-Arteaga, 32, a lawful permanent resident married to a United States citizen residing in Ontario, Oregon, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner […]
Bipartisan groups push for federal prison sentencing reform
People languishing in federal prison for decades on nonviolent drug convictions may get a new chance at justice if the U.S. Senate finds the political will to pass sentencing reform in the final weeks of the lame-duck session. Groups on both left and right on the political spectrum support the First Step Act, a series of […]
St. Joseph man convicted of illegal firearm after 11-hour standoff; faces 10 years in prison
A St. Joseph man has been convicted by a federal trial jury of illegally possessing a firearm following an 11-hour standoff with law enforcement officers. Terrance T. Brown, 41, of St. Joseph, was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Brown was in possession […]
Former paramedic from Missouri pleads guilty to stealing fentanyl, morphine from ambulances
A former Kansas City, Mo., Fire Department paramedic pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing fentanyl and morphine from ambulances for his own personal use. Michael L. Fostich, 37, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to obtaining a controlled substance (fentanyl and morphine) by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, and […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of a child
An Eldon, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court to traveling to North Carolina on five occasions to engage in illicit sexual activity with a child victim over a two-year period. James Anthony Guthrie, III, 37, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of […]