NEWS RELEASE
October 1, 2023
Boone County Northern District Commissioner
Janet Thompson Announces Bid for Re-Election
“I would like to honor those Commissioners who took me under their wing over the years, gave me the benefit of their wisdom, and encouraged me to stand up to help lead Boone County. Frank Graham, Dave Horner, Dave Griggs, and Karen Miller have all left their collective mark on this County, as they have left their indelible mark on me,” noted Janet Thompson in announcing her candidacy for re-election as Northern District Commissioner.
As one of three members of the Boone County Commission, Janet Thompson has been at the forefront of many major issues confronting the county. Her leadership over the last twelve years has helped guide the county through multiple
elections, turnover on the County Commission, and through unprecedented and tumultuous times. As an attorney with 25 years’ experience as a Missouri Assistant Public Defender, she has provided Boone County with her extensive expertise in the areas of criminal and juvenile justice as they intersect with the issues of probate, health care, education, poverty, and homelessness.
Always with an eye to maximizing the use of local funds, among her many efforts at bringing outside funding and assistance to Boone County are:
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Joining the Stepping Up Initiative to address the over-representation of individuals with mental illness in our county jail;
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Helping Boone County become one of only eight counties nationally to be chosen for the Urban Institute’s Upward Mobility Project which now forms the basis of a countywide initiative to help Boone Countians thrive and move upward from poverty;
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Securing a grant from the Pritzker Foundation to expand the county’s partnership with other local organizations to enhance home visitation and early childhood services in the county; and
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Now beginning the process of creating a Health & Justice Coordinating Council for Boone County to better serve and improve the outcome for those persons caught in the access web of trying to navigate separate agencies and service providers.
Thompson’s impact locally has also led to acknowledgement at regional and national levels, including serving on the:
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National Association of Counties (NACo) Justice and Public Safety Committee;
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Missouri Association of Counties (MAC) Policing, Justice & Mental Health Steering Committee;
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NACo and National Sheriffs’ Association Joint Task Force on the Federal Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy;
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NACo Healthy Counties Advisory Board, and as the NACo liaison to the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness.
These efforts are above and beyond the more routine, but essential, day-to-day work of a County Commissioner, which range from road, sewer, and broadband infrastructure issues; to housing, development, zoning, and environmental challenges, while planning for the future; to overseeing the county’s ten departments, boards, and committees; to coordinating with the other nine elected county offices; to allocating and administering incoming state and federal funds; all while serving within the three-person commission responsible for managing the county’s annual budget.
As Thompson supporter and campaign committee treasurer John Baker notes, “Janet is the kind of county commissioner that I appreciate. She’s smart and has a strong legal background; she’s committed to all Boone County residents, no matter what perspective they hold; and she’s simply a really good person trying to help improve life for all of us who live in Boone County.”
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