WATCH: The Post’s full Johnson County DA Republican primary forum

Republican candidates for Johnson County District Attorney tussled over a number of issues in a forum Tuesday night at Lenexa City Center Library hosted by the Johnson County Post.

The most sustained back and forth between longtime incumbent DA Steve Howe and his GOP challenger David Greenwald came over the men’s competing views of the DA’s role in Sheriff Calvin Hayden’s controversial investigation into county election procedures.

But the pair also sparred over staffing and turnover within the DA’s office in recent years, the DA’s role in investigating police shootings and approaches to prosecuting drug crimes in Johnson County.

The winner of the Aug. 6 primary on the Republican side will face the winner of the Democratic contest — either Vanessa Riebli or Zach Thomas — in the November general election.

Who are the candidates?

• David Greenwald, a former assistant DA in Johnson County who now works in the Douglas County prosecutor’s office
• Steve Howe, who has been Johnson County DA since 2008 and is running for his fifth term

How to watch the Post’s forum

The Post livestreamed Tuesday’s event on our Facebook page, and a recording of the forum is embedded below.

Below the embedded video are the questions each candidate answered during the forum.

Timestamps are included in bold at the end of each question to help you navigate through the forum video if you’d like to jump around.

Questions and timestamps

Some of the issues prompted extended back-and-forths between the candidates with multiple follow-up questions. In these instances, the initial question is transcribed below with a timestamp for where that part of the conversation starts.

1. Opening statements [4:35]
2. Biggest public safety issue in JoCo: Reader Kimberly Patrick sent us this question via email and it gets at the essence of your job as Johnson County’s top law enforcement official. She asks, “What is the number one public safety issue in Johnson County?” And I’ll add, how would you address this issue if elected or re-elected? [7:30]
3. Drug crimes and fentanyl: There have been several high-profile cases in recent years of drug overdose deaths, particularly those of teenagers, ending in criminal prosecutions of those who supplied the victims with the drugs. In some cases, this involved the sale of counterfeit pills that contained fatal amounts of fentanyl that teenagers took not knowing they were taking that powerful opioid. Under your watch, what will be the DA’s office’s approach at targeting and prosecuting crimes involving drugs, particularly fentanyl? [10:20]

   

4. Diversion/alternatives to incarceration: The Johnson County District Attorney’s office currently runs diversion programs for both adult and juvenile offenders. These are meant to give people who have committed relatively minor crimes an alternative to incarceration. There is also a diversion program for those suffering with serious mental illness, as well as a special court program for veterans facing criminal charges. As District Attorney, what will be your approach towards offering defendants an opportunity at diversion? Do you think the current programs offered are adequate…or would you like to see them tweaked or expanded in some way? [13:35]
5. Staffing and turnover in DA’s office: Publicly accessible data is hard to come by but there have been suggestions for years now — primarily voiced, it must be said, by political opponents to the current DA — that staffing turnover is a problem in the DA’s office. In a forum for the Democratic candidates for DA last month, former assistant DA Vanessa Riebli said that 16 of 35 attorneys in the office left between 2020 and 2023 and now about 40% of the staff has less than five years experience. DA Howe, I’ll give you a chance to respond directly to those stats, but also for both of you, is turnover an issue in the DA’s office? And more broadly, what steps will you take to recruit and retain a high quality staff of prosecuting attorneys? [18:00]
6. Assigning DAs to cases: Explain your approach to assigning cases to assistants DAs … and how you consider issues of equity, fairness and experience when making those assignments. [22:10]
7. Prosecuting property crimes: Statistics kept by the Kansas Bureau of Investigations show that crime rates reported by local agencies have shown relative consistency. Over the past five years, the rate of reported violent crimes in Johnson County has remained at about 2 incidents per 1,000 residents. Property crimes… burglary and robbery and the like … have ticked up in that time from about 15 per 1,000 to nearly 18 per 1,000, and it is something we hear from readers that they either hear about or are at least anxious about more property crime. Reader Michelle Reing sent us this question via email: “How can you ensure repeat offenders get the help or jail time they need?” [25:10]

   

8. Going after high-profile crimes: What will be your approach towards prosecuting major crimes, if you in fact, would make a distinction between some types of crime? [27:40]
9. Sheriff’s election investigation and DA’s role in that: A nearly three-year-long investigation into Johnson County election systems being conducted by Sheriff Calvin Hayden is now paused. But in a Post forum last week, Hayden made clear he still believes the probe is justified, despite the fact that no criminal charges have come of it and, to date, no real evidence has been produced publicly to back up any claims of widespread election irregularities in Johnson County. Do you think this is a good use of county law enforcement time and resources? Can readers reasonably come to the conclusion that if no criminal charges have been filed after nearly years, then maybe there is nothing substantive there? [30:30] 
10. Trusting JoCo’s election system: Do you believe the elections and subsequent results in Johnson County are derived fairly and accurately? In other words, do you trust the county’s election system? Will you accept the results of your race regardless of who wins? [40:05]
11. Audience question: What technology and AI improvements, additions and opportunities would you consider for the future of the DA’s office? [43:50]
12. Investigating officer-involved shootings: We got some reader questions and comments regarding how the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office investigates officer-involved shootings. Many of them expressing the sentiment of James and Bonnie Armstrong who in an email told the Post that they perceive that process as “too cozy with police.” The DA’s office will take the findings of the county’s Officer Involved Critical Incident Investigative Team and determine whether criminal charges should be filed. In most — if not all — cases in recent memory in Johnson County, criminal chargers are NOT filed. Do you think the DA’s office currently conducts itself with enough transparency and independence to have these investigations be credible in the eyes of the public? [46:50]

    

13. Audience question: How would you respond if the state attorney general wanted local DAs to get stricter on immigration enforcement, even if that is a federal concern? What is the role, if any, of local prosecutors when it comes to immigration issues? [51:25]
14. Audience question: “How will you weed out DEI hires and ineffective DEI policies and training to return to a meritocracy to more effectively serve the people of Johnson County?” Respond to that. How are people hired, how do you maintain high standards in the DA’s office? [54:20]
15. Audience question: “How much education is provided to middle and high school students involved in drug cases?” More broadly what is done to education the community about drugs and fentanyl. [57:10]
16. Closing statements [59:50]