Kevin Strickland

The work of the Midwest Innocence Project has resulted in 18 people freed or exonerated from prison, including several in Missouri and Kansas. But the nonprofit that provides pro bono legal work is in jeopardy due to a loss in federal grants and other financial strains.

For the past 25 years, the Midwest Innocence Project has worked at no cost to free incarcerated individuals who believe they were wrongfully convicted of crimes in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

More than 900 people who believe they were wrongfully convicted are on a waitlist for the Midwest Innocence Project, which provides pro bono legal representation in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas. The organization is celebrating 25 years of service in 2026.

Missouri has little support available for exonerees after they're freed, despite the difficulties of obtaining housing, health care or a job. Senate Bill 36 would allow exonerated defendants to claim damages of $179 per day of wrongful imprisonment with a yearly cap of $65,000.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson reduced Britt Reid's sentence for crashing his truck into two vehicles near the Chiefs’ practice facility in February 2021 while drunk, permanently injuring a 5-year-old girl. Reid is Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid's son.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson rejected a bill that would allow compensation for more people who were wrongfully convicted of a crime. Parson argued that taxpayers should not be responsible, but supporters of the legislation say that exonerees deserve to be compensated for the state's mistake.

Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign a bill that could expand the eligibility and payout for Missourians who have been wrongfully convicted and exonerated, as long as they waive their right to sue the state. Experts say the bill is an improvement, but still wouldn't help very many people.

A bill proposed by Missouri state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer (R-Parkville) would increase and widen the state's compensation for exonerees under the condition they not file a lawsuit. But Tricia Rojo Bushnell, executive director for the Midwest Innocence Project, said the bill still won't fix many of the state's problems.

A crime bill awaits action by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. Shepherded to passage by Parkville Republican Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, it removes limits on payments to wrongly convicted people.

Strickland was freed in 2021. He's now suing the KCPD, alleging misconduct and a reckless investigation that led to his conviction.

Neither Lamar Johnson nor Kevin Strickland have received compensation from the Missouri for the decades they spent wrongfully incarcerated. That’s because Missouri law only allows for payments to prisoners who prove their innocence through specific DNA testing — which was not the case for either man. A new Missouri Senate bill would change that.

Under state law, Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office isn't required to participate in wrongful conviction cases, but Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker says that Schmitt acts as if his primary duty is to defend convictions rather than seek justice.