Every time someone is arrested on a municipal offense and stays in the Douglas County Jail for more than four hours, the Lawrence Police Department is billed $287 a day. In 2027 that bill will be $301 a day.
"The impact on our budget has been significant," Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart told the Journal-World.
That cost, which has increased dramatically over the past several years, has perplexed Lockhart ...
Updated at 5:48 p.m. July 6, 2026
A Douglas County judge has ruled that a woman accused of murdering a 9-month-old baby at a Eudora daycare 10 years ago was wrongfully convicted, and he has ordered that she be given a certificate of innocence, in addition to a lump sum payment of $368,000 and attorney fees.
The woman, Carrody Buchhorn, and her legal team have been in a yearslong fight to clear her name in the ...
An accused child molester who was scheduled for a plea hearing Wednesday in Douglas County District Court died by suicide Tuesday, according to a prosecutor, who told the court that the man's death had deprived the victim and the community of justice.
The defendant, 58-year-old Kurt Pisocki, of Lawrence, was facing multiple off-grid felonies that could have meant life in prison if he were convicted of any ...
Updated at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, 2026
A repeat felon who was granted probation just last month after his attorney assured a judge that he was a "new man" was arrested Monday afternoon on suspicion of arson and two other felonies.
The May sentence of probation was extraordinary in that the sentencing judge said she couldn't recall ever granting probation in such a case before.
Steven Carl Drake, 51, of ...
A defendant accused of interfering with law enforcement will be allowed to argue at trial that police bias played a role in his arrest, but he will not be allowed to subpoena a file that he claims was compiled by Lawrence police to vilify him and to interfere with his rights under the First Amendment.
Douglas County Judge Amy Hanley made that ruling Monday after hearing conflicting testimony from an ex-corporal ...
A man accused of three sex crimes against two Lawrence children in the early 2000s pleaded not guilty on Monday, waived his upcoming preliminary hearing and told the court that he and the state intended to talk to a local judge about possibly mediating the case.
David Zimbrick, who's been charged with one count of rape, one count of aggravated criminal sodomy and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with ...
