Joplin City Council Informal Meeting - January 5, 2026
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Joplin City Council Informal Meeting - January 5, 2026
The Joplin City Council held an informal meeting on Monday, January 5, 2026, at 11:15 AM UTC. The meeting included two agenda items: appointments to the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) advisory board and an update from the Joplin Police Department. The council unanimously approved three new CVB members, and Police Chief Rich Pearson presented a detailed overview of departmental achievements, statistics, and goals for 2026.
Discussion Item: Boards and Commissions Appointments (CVB)
- The council considered four applicants for three open seats on the CVB advisory board: one from the hotel/motel industry, one from media, and one from area attractions. No retail applicant was available, so that seat remained unfilled.
- After discussion about applicant qualifications and residency requirements, the council made three nominations and voted unanimously (9-0) for each:
- Tanya Boganrief (hotel/motel industry) to the hotel vacancy.
- Jeremiah Cook (KSN/KOD anchor) to the media vacancy.
- Jason Williams (self-employed, works with Joplin Expo) to the area attractions vacancy.
- The appointments were confirmed with nine votes in favor and none opposed for each position.
Discussion Item: Police Department Update
Chief Rich Pearson provided a comprehensive update on the Joplin Police Department's operations. Key points included:
- Staffing: 115 authorized sworn officers; 11 vacancies; 87 officers currently available for street duty; 6 officers in the in-house academy; dispatch has 8 vacancies out of 20 authorized positions; jail has 1 vacancy out of 14.
- Achievements in 2025:
- Co-responder unit fully operational with three civilian co-responders from Ozark Center, aiding de-escalation and resource connection (e.g., for homelessness, domestic violence).
- Flex platoon seized 13-14 firearms in one high-profile case and a quantity of fentanyl representing over one million prevented overdose deaths.
- Kids' Academy hosted approximately 200 students (sixth and fifth graders) across multiple sessions; second year of program expanded due to demand.
- Citizens Police Academy held two classes, graduating 29 citizens.
- Take-home fleet approved by council improved response times and served as a recruitment/retention tool.
- Expungement clinic on July 4, 2025, in partnership with McPherson Law Firm; 246 people attended, 62 qualified, and 25 cases are scheduled for expungement in Jasper County court on January 29, 2026.
- "Coffee with the Chief" continue to foster community dialogue.
- Evidence room restructured with rolling shelves to increase capacity.
- Second consecutive year with zero homicides in Joplin (for the second year running).
- Agency statistics: Calls for service trending down; exact annual figures will be provided in the separate 2025 annual report.
- Goals for 2026:
- Create a sixth patrol beat dedicated to the downtown business area (24/7 dedicated officer) to support revitalization and reduce call load disparity.
- Improve staffing through retention and hiring.
- Partner with Joplin School District to implement a telecommunicator curriculum at Joplin High School, creating a direct pipeline to dispatcher jobs.
- Enhance the police firing range with a new building to replace deteriorating facilities.
- Achieve radio interoperability with the state via MOSWIN.
- Implement a part-time highway interdiction team targeting I-44 to interdict drugs, guns, and wanted persons; potential future expansion to full-time.
- Re-establish the police motorcycle unit (two Harley-Davidson motorcycles owned but not yet operational).
- Councilmember Jackson inquired about the mileage of I-44 within Joplin city limits; Chief Pearson did not have the exact figure and promised to provide it.
Key Outcomes
- Three CVB board vacancies were filled unanimously: Tanya Boganrief (hotel), Jeremiah Cook (media), Jason Williams (attractions). The retail seat was left vacant due to no qualifying applicant.
- The council received the police department update without formal action, but noted the department's achievements and endorsed future initiatives. Chief Pearson will deliver the annual police report separately.
- The chief will supply the specific mileage of I-44 within city limits to Councilmember Jackson.
- The informal meeting concluded at approximately 11:28 AM UTC, with the regular session to follow.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good evening, everyone, and welcome to the informal meeting of the Joplin City Council on Monday, January the 5th, 2026. Happy New Year, everyone. We have two items on the agenda. This evening, item number one is boards and commissions appointments. CVB only. Okay. Very good. Um Holly, I don't have a list of that in front of me. I should have had one printed, but I don't have one in front of me. Thank you. Could you pass that down to me, Mr. Coppel? We don't include. I'm sorry, what was that question and answer? I didn't know if there's a way we could get them on our screen. She said they're not included in the packet. It appears that we're doing CVB only, and I'm I'm going to assume, and that's probably a bad assumption by me that everybody has got a copy of what we're looking at, but we're looking to add email to us. Um a couple of members to the CVB advisory board. And we've got four applications here, it looks like a Tanya Bogan Bogan Reef. From Fairfield Inn, Jeremiah Cook, KSN KOD anchor, Jerem Jeremy Morris, Joplin Expo, Director of Sales, and Jason Williams, self-employed at the Joplin Expo. Has everyone had an opportunity to take a look at these applicants? Does anyone have any questions or comments before the chair takes nominations? Mayor, one question I have. These all need to be industry specific, so that is the reason we are doing seeking someone from the hotel industry, someone from the media industry, and someone from local attraction, so they meet the criteria as needed, right? Information that I have, Mr. Jackson says 11 members, four from hotel motel industry, one restaurant, one chamber of commerce, one media, one area attraction, one retail, two at large. Joplin residents, but if there are no other qualified applicant, then a non-resident may apply. These meetings are to be held on the third Tuesday of every month at 3 p.m. These are three-year terms. Since we do have our CVB director in the House, I would ask him at this time, just a head nod. Did I get any of that information incorrect? Thank you, sir. I can tell you, in looking through the applicants here. And one that resides in the OSHO and one that resides in Carthage. One applicant from media. And apparently two, well, I guess you could call one from an area of attraction and one at large. Any other comments or discussions? Mr. Coppel, did you have something? Not at this time. Well, hold on just a second. Yeah, I do. Um would Mr. Williams being is it says a self-employed slash works with Joplin Expo. Would that not count as a attraction person? Yeah. Well, I was actually saying Jeremy Morris, the director of sales of the Joplin Expo as in an area attraction. Jason Williams, I would throw him in the at-large category. If it says he works for Joplin Expo, would would that not make him an attraction person? Yeah, you could slice bread that way.
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