Stay or go? Fate of Andrew Jackson statues at KC, Independence courthouses up to voters

Voters will once again decide the fate of two statues of U.S. President Andrew Jackson outside the Kansas City and Independence courthouses after legislators took steps this week to resume efforts to remove them.

In a 7-1 vote, Jackson County legislators approved a resolution at a meeting Monday to start the process to remove and store the statues of the county’s namesake and install a statue of Harry S Truman at the courthouse in downtown Kansas City.

There are several procedural steps ahead before the statues can actually be removed, Caleb Clifford, chief of staff for the Jackson County Executive’s Office, said in an email.

The resolution calls for the issue to be placed before voters on the November 2024 ballot. To do that, the legislature will need to pass an ordinance placing the issue on the ballot, he said.

There’s ample time — more than a year — for the necessary legislation to be crafted and ratified, Clifford said.

“As we approach the election, the administration will work with the legislature to develop estimates concerning the removal and storage of the existing statues, costs for the new statue, as well as create renderings of the sites,” he said. “This information is designed to equip voters with a comprehensive understanding for making their decision.”

The resolution, which was introduced by Democrat Manuel “Manny” Abarca IV, 1st District, in June, is the latest effort to remove the monuments because of Jackson’s history as a slave owner and his support of forcefully removing Native Americans from their land.

The question to remove them was put to a vote in 2020 despite opposition from Black county leaders who wanted to remove them with legislation. The effort failed when 59% of voters favored keeping them up.

Plaques were added in 2021 noting that Jackson County was named for Jackson by Missouri lawmakers three years before he was elected as president. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker had proposed in 2019 installing plaques next to both statues outlining Jackson’s controversial past. Their installation were delayed for the public vote on whether the statues should be taken down.

The statue has stood outside the north entrance of the courthouse in Kansas City since the building opened in 1934. It became a flash point during the demonstrations for racial justice in Kansas City following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman.