Platte County Prosecuting Attorney's Office

03/17/2026

03/05/2026

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd announced that he had obtained 30 years from a Platte City woman. Chris Poepping, age undisclosed, will be sentenced to two celebrations beginning March 3.

Zahnd said, "It frankly boggles the mind that someone with Chris' intelligence, competence, and good nature would sentence herself to 30 years as an underpaid Platte County employee. All of Missouri is fortunate to have someone of her ability serving them.”

Congratulations Chris on this wonderful achievement. We are so thankful for your dedicated commitment & unwavering support of our office.

03/01/2026

I’ve served as Platte County’s prosecutor for 23 years. I’ve have won convictions against hundreds of murderers, rapists, child abusers, white collar criminals, and—just once—against a company that distributed illegal gambling machines.

I have served as Platte County Prosecuting Attorney for 23 years. In that time, I have won convictions against hundreds of murderers, rapists, child abusers, white collar criminals, and -- just once -- against a company that distributed illegal gambling machines.

02/19/2026

Today was a tough day in the Platte County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. We worked with heavy hearts. Our beloved friend and coworker, Trial Team Leader Kaitlynn Donnelly, a phenomenal prosecutor, great leader, incredible trial lawyer, passionate voice for crime victims, devoted wife and mother, and good, good person will never join us again.

Kait died Tuesday night after a long battle with cancer. She leaves behind a 2 1/2 year old daughter and a husband who is also a police detective. It’s tragic.

We are terribly sad. But I believe that somehow in some way we can’t presently comprehend, it’s part of something good. That gives us some small degree of solace.

Although our hearts will always be a little bit broken because of Kait’s premature death, we will get better. We will be better people and prosecutors because she was in our lives.

This poem by T.S. Eliot (a great Missourian and an even greater poet) takes on even greater significance this Ash Wednesday.

Rest in peace, our friend and sister, Kait.

https://englishverse.com/poems/ash_wednesday

02/04/2026

Really fortunate to run into my Senior Senator Josh Hawley in the halls of Congress today. To this day, I’m proud I was the first prosecutor to endorse his run for Attorney General and serve on his 3-person transition team when he won. Keep up the good work, my friend and Senator!

02/04/2026

Proud to have spent the evening with my colleagues on the National District Attorneys Association Executive Committee hearing from Chris Christie about upholding the rule of law. Such timely words for this moment. Thanks for spending time with us, Governor. And thanks for reminding us that the best job you ever had was as a prosecutor!

01/29/2026

St. Louis City is the poorest city in MO. Platte County is the wealthiest county in MO. Why can they figure out how to pay law enforcement and our county commissioners, including Scott Fricker, Platte County Presiding Commissioner and Vanover for Commissioner cannot? Maybe the fact that police officers in St. Louis are unionized has something to do with it.

St. Louis messed up policing so badly that the state had to take over—twice. I prefer local control. It worked well in Platte County for over two centuries and for the first 23 years in my time as prosecuting attorney. But something is broken with these commissioners.

The pay bumps would lift starting pay for officers to about $62,600 a year, up from roughly $58,500.

01/28/2026

Patrick Tuohey is right: The World Cup will be great for Kansas City. But it’s also going to bring drunkenness, hooliganism, and violence. Seems like a TERRIBLE time to slash law enforcement in Platte County, where the vast majority of soccer fans will land at Kansas City International Airport.

Missouri will be one of just a handful of states hosting FIFA World Cup matches in the summer of 2026, with Kansas City serving as the region’s primary stage.

01/27/2026

Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker, Platte County Presiding Commissioner and Commissioner Vanover for Commissioner slashed law enforcement funding. They won’t talk to Platte County Sheriff Erik Holland or me. If you care about public safety, please reach out to them and ask them why they are doing this. Here’s is background on the issue and you can watch video of the latest County Commission meeting at the link below. The meeting was, shall we say, “interesting.”

Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker
[email protected] or (816) 533-5808

Commissioner Joe Vanover
Joe.Vanover@ co.platte.mo.us or (816) 858-3333

https://www.youtube.com/live/wx7d0I5otB4?si=srtCNCp8oeEUSriJ

01/26/2026

I’m concerned about the unrest in Minneapolis, and I’m proud to be a part of the executive committee of the National District Attorney’s Association that authorized this statement.

01/09/2026

This article explains why prosecutor (and law enforcement funding in general) is so important. Call Sam Graves and encourage him to co-sponsor the HIRRE Act!

$10 million in prosecutor funding is not enough to save our justice system.

Ending the prosecutor vacancy crisis and protecting the criminal justice system will require a larger investment.