ZAHND: COMMISSIONER IS ‘DEFUNDING LAW ENFORCEMENT’
“Unfortunately, Prosecutor Zahnd appears to have lost his mind, he’s not fit to serve, and he should resign.”
That’s one of several emotionally-charged posts made on Facebook Friday evening, Jan. 23, by Scott Fricker, presiding commissioner for Platte County.
Fricker went on a social media rant against Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd, posting several controversial comments that he later deleted.
The posts were made on the “Scott Fricker, Platte County Presiding Commissioner” Facebook page, and drew an audience of many local citizens and political observers who were following Fricker’s posts in real time as word spread of the ongoing situation.
It’s the latest public action in what has become a major disagreement over funding for law enforcement salaries in the county’s 2026 budget. Fricker and other commissioners lowered an auditor-recommended pay raise of five percent for all county employees–including those in law enforcement–down to 2.5 percent.
Later, the posts disappeared from Fricker’s page. In a conversation with The Landmark this week, Fricker confirmed that he is the one who made the posts and he later deleted them “because I want to stay focused on the actual issue, which is the budget.”
Before the posts could be deleted, The Landmark was able to grab several of them via screenshot.
Among the posts made by Fricker captured by the newspaper with screenshots are these:
•“Unfortunately, Prosecutor Zahnd appears to have lost his mind, he’s not fit to serve, and he should resign.”
•“Prosecutor Zahnd is a bully, and we have the actual facts to prove it.”
•“Maybe instead of spending his time attacking me, Prosecutor Zahnd should focus on moving cases through the judicial system faster so that we don’t have such an overcrowded jail problem costing the county millions of dollars. Overcrowded jail? Zahnd is the problem.”
•“I’m sitting here watching The Five (a Fox News nightly program) and I’m realizing that Prosecutor Zahnd’s accusations are as outrageous as the far left’s accusations about ICE. He’s closer to Kamala than he is to conservatives.”
•“Prosecutor Zahnd appears to be in the pocket of the economic development machine. These are the same people who want data centers operators, the world’s richest corporations, that get massive property tax breaks, while you have to pay the full amount. Zahnd is not looking out for you, he’s looking out for the world’s richest corporations.”
The newspaper reached out to both Zahnd and Fricker this week for comments about the controversial posts.
Fricker declined public comment about why he made the posts and whether he stood behind his Friday night words, saying only that he pulled them down because he wants to stay focused on the budget issue.
ZAHND’S REACTION
Asked by The Landmark for comment on Fricker’s Facebook posts, Zahnd, Platte County’s longtime prosecutor, said he will not be resigning.
“My resolve to run for reelection has only been strengthened by Presiding Commissioner Fricker’s wholly indefensible defunding of law enforcement,” Zahnd said.
Zahnd went on to add the following statement.
“Presiding Commissioner Fricker’s public comments at recent commission meetings and on his social media reveal a disturbing and fundamental disregard for public safety.
“It is unfortunate that the county commission’s campaign to fund a larger jail–led by Presiding Commissioner Fricker–failed. Effectively communicating with voters is a critical role of the presiding commissioner, and he continually fails at that simple task.
“Presiding Commissioner Fricker also apparently misunderstands the basic workings of our criminal court system. Prosecutors don’t control the speed that cases move through the judicial system; judges do.
“I’ve never taken a dime from the ‘world’s richest corporations who want data centers.’ Heck, I don’t even know who those people are. But apparently unlike Presiding Commissioner Fricker, I earnestly hope Platte County will continue to be an economic development machine.
“Finally, Platte County Sheriff Erik Holland and I are incredibly frustrated with Presiding Commissioner Fricker because he slashed funding for law enforcement from a balanced budget the county budget officer submitted in accordance with Missouri law. I’m not sure how that aligns me with Kamala Harris. I simply wish Presiding Commissioner Fricker cared about the safety of Platte County families, children, schools, and businesses.”
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