Electronic notice to prosecutor satisfies detainer deadline

Two out-of-state prisoners won dismissal of their cases in Ray County after the prosecutor failed to try them in time, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled May 18.

The court said Loren Burhop Jr. and Anthony Stevenson had met the requirements of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, which allows a prisoner in one state to request disposition of criminal charges filed against him in another state.

Burhop, incarcerated in Kansas, was accused of drug charges in Ray County, while Stevenson, incarcerated in Illinois, separately faced multiple accounts of assault of a law enforcement officer there. 

Under the IAD, the county had 180 days after the submission of their requests to try them. Once those deadlines passed without action, the men sought dismissal of the charges, which the Ray County Circuit Court granted. 

The Western District agreed that both men had met the IAD’s statutory requirements, including that they had adequately notified the prosecuting attorney. Although their requests were sent only to the circuit clerk, the Eastern District said the prosecutor received an eNotice through Case.net when the documents were placed in their court files. 

The cases are State v. Burhop, WD83735, and State v. Stevenson, WD83734.