Local news- Press Release
St Charles County Missouri - Criminal Felony Prosecutions on the Rise in St Charles County Court 03 January 2024 ( news )
St Charles County , state Missouri ( By Press Release office)
Jan 03,2024
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It’s been a busy year in St . Charles County Circuit Court , with criminal felony cases up more than 13 percent , due in part to criminal suspects from east of the Missouri River .
That’s the word from Presiding Judge Chris McDonough , who reviews all the criminal indictments in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court .
“I have noticed that there is certainly a trend , that the violent crimes being charged by indictment—it’s almost always cross - river crimes , ” McDonough says . “I mean , you have people coming from St . Louis City or County committing auto thefts , car break - ins , the burglaries . It’s a big issue . ”
For the year 2023 , some 4 , 580 criminal felony cases were filed in the county—compared to 4 , 045 last year . That’s a 13 . 2 percent increase in criminal felony cases .
At publication time , no numbers were available from the court on where all the people charged with felony crimes in St . Charles County in 2023 came from . But about 2/3rds of the people awaiting trial in the St . Charles County jail live outside the county .
Of the 382 people now in the jail , 36% come from St . Louis County , another 12% from St . Louis City , while 4% each come from Lincoln County , Metro Illinois , and the Kansas City area; and 3% each come from out of state and the area surrounding St . Charles County .
The percentage of the population in the jail now from St . Charles County is 34% .
Judge McDonough says the ongoing police crackdown on cross - river crime has driven up the number of arrests and court cases here . Another factor driving up the numbers is drugs , which seem to be the root of many cases .
“You have people addicted to these drugs who are out there robbing people because they’re trying to get money to fund their drug habits , ” McDonough says . “The same is true of burglaries or catalytic converter thefts . ”
McDonough says the Circuit Court judges and juries here continue to have a reputation for being “tough on crime , but fair . ” He says he hears about it from some defendants during sentencing .
“I’ve actually heard this from some of the bad guys . I’ve heard things like , ‘
Yeah , I know , I shouldn’t have come to St . Charles County to do this … you don’t want to go to St . Charles County … St . Charles County doesn’t play
. ’ That sort of thing , ” McDonough says .
One thing the Court seldom sees is murder cases . McDonough says they usually have about five a year , compared to hundreds of murder cases elsewhere around the region .
Two murder cases went to trial in 2022 and two murder cases went to trial in 2023 .
“We don’t want any more murder cases , ” McDonough says . “I think a big part of the reason people choose to live in St . Charles County , as opposed to St . Louis City or St . Louis County , why people choose to raise their kids here , why people choose to locate their businesses here , it’s because by - and - large it is a very safe community . ”
Other trends on the docket:
A rise in probate cases involving people experiencing a mental health crisis ( frequently with co - occurring substance abuse issues ) , people facing 96 - hour and other mental health commitments , and guardianship cases for people who are physically or mentally incapacitated .
Commercial litigation . More businesses are starting here , which means more business disputes .
Breach of contract and employment discrimination claims .
Medical malpractice cases .
The Circuit is also seeing more personal injury cases , thanks to state legislation that prevents lawyers from venue - shopping cases to more plaintiff - friendly circuits .
McDonough says the jurors in St . Charles County are “great . ”
“They show up . They’re attentive , they take their duty seriously . In these criminal cases , when you have jury sentencing , our juries tend to be very , very tough , especially on violent crime , drug crimes , sex crimes . And that’s just a reflection of our community standards , ” McDonough says .
The St . Charles County Circuit Court consists of 16 divisions—15 judges and one Probate Commissioner .
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