How will Jackson County prosecutors prepare for the World Cup? What to know
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Johnson is preparing for a potential increase in crime during the World Cup.
- The prosecutor’s office will have extra staff on call and use the Eastern courthouse.
- The office coordinated with neighboring counties for resources and language needs.
With the FIFA World Cup just days away, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson’s office is taking precautions for a potential increase in crime.
Kansas City is one of 16 host cities in North America for the FIFA World Cup, though estimates of visitor numbers have varied widely. Events are expected to run from June 11 through July 11, when the Fan Festival wraps up following the final match in Kansas City.
Johnson said she hasn’t dealt with an event of this magnitude since taking office in January 2025, making preparations difficult because of the many unknowns.
“Obviously, we’ve heard a lot of different numbers as far as expected visitors, and so it’s kind of hard to prepare for something that you’ve never experienced before,” Johnson said. “We are confident that with more capacity, making sure people are engaged in real time and kind of really focusing on an all-hands-on-deck approach, that will be all right.”
Johnson said her office plans to have additional staff on call throughout the World Cup.
“When you have an influx of population in your metropolitan area, the theory is that there might be more crime, and wanting to make sure that we’re well staffed and have the capacity to file things in custody, have people on call answering law enforcement’s questions in real time,” Johnson said.
Additionally, Johnson said her office has been in contact with foreign consulates because of notification requirements related to filing charges against visitors from another country. Prosecutors also plan to seek passport holds in Class A and B felony cases, which include offenses such as murder or first-degree assault.
“When somebody lives in another country, underneath that current is always a risk of flight,” Johnson said. “If you commit one of those in Jackson County, we want you to answer for that.”
Preparing courts for increased caseloads
Johnson said prosecutors are also anticipating an increase in municipal offenses because of extended bar hours in entertainment districts. Those offenses could include public intoxication, disorderly conduct, fights and noise disturbances.
Those cases would go through the municipal prosecutor’s office, which plans to hold a daily FIFA docket to quickly resolve lower-level offenses and avoid creating another court backlog similar to the delays seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While downtown could become more congested during the tournament, Johnson said prosecutors plan to utilize the eastern Jackson County Courthouse more frequently to avoid delays. Defendants being held without bond who are scheduled for trial during that period would instead be handled at the Eastern courthouse.
“So (we’re) grateful that we have space to be able to kind of circumvent any of the chaos that happens down here, because as we got into these preparations, things started revealing themselves that frankly were not at the top of my mind, like, how are jurors going to park?” Johnson said. “How are jurors going to get lunch delivered right when it’s gonna be a different downtown?”
Johnson said her office has also been coordinating with prosecutors in Clay, Wyandotte, Johnson and Platte counties to share resources for guilty plea waivers in more commonly spoken foreign languages.
“So we can try to move those cases as quickly as possible, and then also make sure that we have adequate interpreter services for law enforcement to use when they are delivering people’s Miranda rights, when they are taking victim and witness statements, etc.,” Johnson said.
