NHS prom alcohol case 'unresolved'

Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson said through a spokeswoman Thursday that she still had not made a decision on whether to file charges in the alleged provision of alcohol to Nevada High School Junior-Senior Prom participants April 9 in Fort Scott.

The controversy stems from an NHS parent's report that students had been sold alcoholic drinks by a bartender at the Buffalo Grill Restaurant's River Room Event Center.

Nevada R-5 School District administrators reported afterward that a half-dozen students had admitted their involvement.

Johnson had said May 12 that she would announce her decision in a news release within the week, but then the prosecutor's spokeswoman said May 20 that Johnson had opted instead to seek an expanded investigation by Fort Scott police.

"Given our current assignment, we don't have a projection date," FSPD Lt. Shaun West said Thursday. "We turned in the investigation once and there was a request for more investigation.

"At present, we've got some things that apparently need to be resolved, but we cannot discuss an open case."

Two of those most interested, Nevada R-5 School District Superintendent David Stephens and Buffalo Grill Manager Jeh Hunter, said this week that they hadn't heard anything from Johnson since the matter became public 11 weeks ago.

"As I understand it, it's in the hands of the prosecution in Fort Scott and they will determine if they want to make a case out of it or not," Dr. Stephens said Tuesday. "I understand that can take a while."

Stephens said disciplinary actions have been taken against students for violating the R-5 rule against drinking alcohol at extra-curricular events, although some won't be able to complete their punishment until after school resumes Aug. 18.

Explaining that for some, disciplinary action means students may lose up to 20 percent of such activities as football, volleyball and band, Stephens said, "We just started visiting with students about it and got the information.

"The in-school suspensions were served and now we're ready to get past it. We look forward to hearing how the case is ultimately resolved."

Stephens said a decision has not been made on where the Junior-Senior Prom will be held next year.

Efforts to reach Buffalo Grill co-owner Becky Mann last week and this week were unsuccessful; however, Hunter predicted there will be no prosecution. "I don't believe Terri Johnson is picking up the case," Hunter said Tuesday.

"I have not heard anything, but I'm guessing no charges are going to be filed. I haven't been able to talk with Terri Johnson. I was just told by the detectives that the next step would be hers.

"If she decided to go forward, then we'd hear from her. But we haven't heard anything. It was a beautiful evening and everybody seemed to have a wonderful time. That was the consensus with all the chaperones at the end before the story came about."

Hunter had previously said the prom was attended by 400 people, including 30 chaperones who took turns helping serve the students non-alcoholic "mock-tails" -- a mixture of sodas and fruit punch.

Mann emphatically denied any wrongdoing April 14, when she told the Daily Mail that she gave FSPD Det. Jason Pickert a 6 1/2-hour video tape recording of the River Room's "bar," which served only non-alcoholic drinks that night.

"Sodas and fruit punch were all anybody was serving," said Mann. "A security camera was trained on the bar and we've looked at the video, trying to get to the bottom of this.

"I don't know where the students got the alcohol, but they didn't get any upstairs in the River Room because there was none there. We checked it and the Nevada people checked it before the prom started. Dean and I were helping the bartender 75 percent of the time. He was never by himself.

"There were adults and security people at every exit and the bathrooms," Mann said. "They were also at the stairs to make sure no students got downstairs, where there was a real bar. There was no incident unless the students provided it themselves or had it later on in the evening."