The Saline County Prosecutor was taken into custody this afternoon.
According to documentation received from the Saline County Circuit Clerks office, Saline County Prosecutor Tim Thompson was arrested earlier today and charged with contempt of court for failing to pay a $50 fine assessed by the court. The fine was assessed after Thompson dismissed a felony case after a jury had already been summoned in the case.
Thompson filed felony information in a felony case with the Saline County Circuit Court on October 11, 2019 that was set for jury trial to begin on July 14, 2020. On June 22, Thompson requested a continuance in the case after advising the court that a material witness in the case was not available for the jury trial due to the witness being on vacation. He was not able to provide information to the court as to when the witness had scheduled the vacation and his request for continuance was denied. Thompson then advised the court that he would be dismissing the case without prejudice and would refile at a later date. Thompson did not file a motion to dismiss the case until July 10, after the summons had been sent to the jurors on July 2.
On Friday, July 17, the court issued a Show Cause Order requiring Thompson to appear to show cause as to why he should not be held in contempt for failure to pay the $50 fine. According to court records, on Tuesday, August 18, Thompson failed to show that his failure to pay the amount owed was not attributable to an intentional refusal to obey or not attributable to a failure on his part to make a good faith effort to pay the fine.
Thompson was held in contempt of court on Tuesday, August 18 and taken into custody where he will remain until he agrees to pay the fine as ordered by the court.
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