As Jackson County exits its fifth month without a working budget, county prosecutor Melesa Johnson says her office’s ability to prosecute cases is starting to suffer — and that tax-funded violence prevention programs are at risk of breaking down.

The Jackson County Legislature has been locked in a standoff with county executive Frank White over the 2025 county budget since January, when legislators first approved a budget that White quickly vetoed. In the months since, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and other agencies have been unable to access most of the money that would be theirs to use and distribute under the budget.

Since the beginning of the year, the prosecutor’s office has been forced to take on fewer cases than normal and has been unable to send attorneys to con

See Full Page