Updated at 10:17 a.m. Monday, April 20:
Lawrence police officers’ 2017 interrogation of a teen was “almost like a therapy session” rather than a criminal investigation as they encouraged the boy to let out everything he’d been “holding inside,” a judge wrote in her ruling to toss out the boy’s self-incriminating statements.
The high school student was not told that he was suspected of rape, but ...
A deputy from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office made a brief appearance at Wednesday evening services at Heritage Baptist Church northwest of Lawrence — but he didn't disturb the congregation.
He was called there to speak to the sole protester, a woman who stood on the corner at North 1800 and East 800 roads holding a sign that read “Don’t be selfish — Go home — God will be there too.”
The ...
The Rev. Scott Hanks has heard from members of the community and met with law enforcement, but Heritage Baptist Church will continue its in-person services.
“It's not that people don't care, and we definitely love our community,” the church’s leader said Tuesday, “but we still believe that the Bible commands for us to attend church, and that's why we're doing what we're doing.”
The church, northwest ...
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the agency would now enforce Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order limiting public gatherings, including religious services, to no more than 10 people.
“If citizens do not voluntarily abide by the order we will either submit a criminal report to the District Attorney’s office or an arrest will be made for violating an emergency order from the ...
Although first appearances via video are nothing new for Douglas County District Court, judges attending them from home is.
As essential public meetings have moved to online formats amid the coronavirus pandemic, the court is no exception, and the use of videoconferencing will likely continue to grow in coming weeks, Chief Judge James McCabria said Friday.
However, the court and the local criminal justice ...
Although Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies must serve arrest warrants in person, they are exercising discretion amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Jenn Hethcoat, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said via email that deputies were not actively serving warrants for individuals who were not a risk to public safety.
“We are still gathering information on these cases that allow them to ...
