photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A Lawrence police detective will pursue a diversion agreement to settle a DUI charge that he received after allegedly crashing his car off-duty.

Testing by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation showed that the detective, Adam Christopher Welch, had a blood alcohol content of 0.25, or more than three times the legal limit for driving in Kansas. As the Journal-World previously reported, Welch refused all sobriety tests after the crash, according to his arrest affidavit in the case, and a search warrant had to be obtained to have his blood drawn for testing.

Welch, 38, is charged with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of .08% or more, according to charging documents. The charge relates to an incident around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 3, when Welch is alleged to have crashed into a parked car in the 1500 block of Lindenwood Lane.

During Welch’s first appearance on Friday, his defense attorney, Vanessa Riebli, entered a not guilty plea on Welch’s behalf but said that she was working with a Wyandotte County special prosecutor, Karen Cudlin Wittman, on terms of a possible diversion agreement to settle the charge.

Senior Judge Merlin Wheeler presided over Friday’s hearing and scheduled a diversion control hearing for Welch on Jan. 5, 2023, when Wittman and Riebli will update the judge on the progress of the diversion agreement.

Laura McCabe, spokesperson for the Lawrence Police Department, said in late October that Welch had returned to his regular duties after having been initially placed on paid administrative leave. The Lawrence Police Department was not involved in the investigation of the incident.