899 people in line ahead of you? Johnson County in for major courthouse traffic jam
If you are scheduled to appear in Johnson County traffic court on the morning of Feb. 6, you might want to bring a book.
A very long book.
For reasons that officials are still trying to sort out, more than 900 traffic cases have been scheduled to be heard at the 8:30 a.m. docket that day in the traffic division at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe.
“There is likely to be a wait of several hours,” Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said in a written statement.
A typical traffic court docket would schedule 250 to 350 citations, according to the district attorney’s office, and about 40 percent of those ticketed would show up.
Some people take care of the tickets ahead of time, either in person or over the phone. Some just don’t show up and have warrants issued for their arrest.
The issue involves the Kansas Highway Patrol’s digital ticketing system.
At the request of the district attorney’s office, the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration, which oversees the ticketing system, had set limits on the number of cases scheduled at any one time, according to Howe’s office.
For an unknown reason, that limit was removed, the district attorney said.
Officials said they have “no good way” to contact those with tickets to change the dates.
They are trying to alleviate the situation, but for now people who come to court that day can expect a long wait.
Officials are encouraging people to call the district attorney’s traffic division at 913-715-3114 or to come in person to the fourth floor of the courthouse to take care of the tickets ahead of time.
