PIKE COUNTY, Mo. — Pike County Sheriff, Stephen W. Korte, issued the following press release:
Press release; Sheriff Closes County Jail
On 23 November 2020 I met with the County Commission and the decision was made to temporarily send all inmates to another jail for housing. This happened because of staff vacancies and COVID-19 quarantines we no longer had enough staff to operate safely. All Pike County detainees were transferred to the Audrain County Jail on 24 November.
How did we get here and where do we go in the future?
The closing was not a knee jerk reaction. Because the revenue coming into the county has not kept pace with rising expenses this option has been discussed many times over the last few years. In December of 2018 in preparing for the 2019 budget the Commission and I along with the new incoming Judge and Prosecutor met at length about the jail. It was decided at that time to keep it open. Part of that decision was based on an offer from Ralls County to increase what they paid for their daily housing rate. As they do not have a jail and we were their primary holding facility. In 2018 the housing for other jurisdictions brought in $180,335. The end of year projection, for 2020, based on current numbers will be less than $65,000. I can not speak for the Ralls County court system as to the drastic reduction in detainees, but I do know that in part it can be contributed to 2019 bond reforms and Covid-19 in 2020. The estimated cost at that time between staying open and closing were with in just a few thousand dollars out of the 1.5 million dollar budget.
So how does revenue affect staffing. Because the County Commission does not have the revenue to provide a competitive wage and benefit package it makes it incredibly difficult to hire and retain employees. Not only is the pay and benefits at Pike County lower than all neighboring counties, the pay and benefits for Deputy Sheriff’s is less than that of Patrol Officers at the Bowling Green and Louisiana Police Departments.
Jailers have to work over nights, weekends and have to deal people who aren’t always the nicest folks in our community and who really don’t appreciate being locked up. This for a salary that is equal to or less than places like Walmart or fast food restaurants. We have perspective employees that come in and are interested in criminal justice as a career and working locally, until they find out what the pay is.
For the 2020 budget year your jail staff’s starting pay is $11.50 an hour. There are no guaranteed raises. Raises happen at the beginning of the budget year, if there is enough projected revenue for the commission to grant them. As far as medical benefits, since 2019, county employees have had 2 options. Plan A is employee pays nothing out of their paycheck, but even after meeting the deductible the employee has to pay 20% of all costs. Plan B costs the employee $148 a month and has a standard deductible and max out of pocket. To add a spouse or children to the plan would cost almost more than they are paid. From 2008 thru 2020 the pay for Jailers and Deputies has only increased by $2 an hour, $9.50 to $11.50 and $13.50 to 15.50 respectively. For that same time period the minimum wage has increased by $2.80 an hour and $3.65 come January first. Effective January first of 2023 the minimum wage in Missouri will $12 an hour.
In an ideal situation sales taxes should keep pace with the growth and the needs of a community. But with changes in the way people shop and live that has not happened. Things people once bought locally are now purchased on line. The county receives no sales tax from on line sales.
To answer the question about the money that the 911 sales tax was supposed to free up. Prior to the passing of the 911 sales tax in 2018 and the formation of that board, dispatch was under the Sheriff’s Office. The city of Bowling Green dispatched their Police and Louisiana dispatched their Fire and Police and the Hospital dispatched the Ambulance. The Sheriff’s Office handled all others. This was done with 5 to 6 dispatchers with jailers helping answer calls and came from funds from the now former land line fee and county general revenue funds to the tune of around $200,000 a year. With general revenue funds stagnated that has quickly been gobbled up by rising costs.
911 now dispatches for the whole county with the exception of day time Bowling Green Police. There are now at a minimum 2 dispatchers on at all time and they are trained to provide pre-arrival medical instructions to 911 callers. This is a level of service that the county would never been able to fund without that separate sales tax.
So where do we go from here.
Pike County is growing slowly, which in my opinion is good because it easier to adapt. Folks just a little older than me were around when Pike County actually had a larger population than Lincoln County. We need to decide what level of service we want from our local government.
Financially speaking we have some options. We can, for a second time, place a use tax on the ballot. This would capture the sales tax from on line sales and support every sales tax fund in the county. We can also under state statute (67.547 RSMo) place up to a half cent sales tax on the ballot dedicated to law enforcement. This would be in addition to the current half cent that we currently receive (67.582 RSMo).
As a Father of 7, 5 of which are still at home and going through school, I don’t want spend any more than I have to when I go to the store. That being said I do want them to live in a safe community. I anticipate doing some sort of survey in the near future to help get community input.
I would also like to say how grateful I am to the present and past staff for their sacrifice and dedication, if only effort could pay their bills. I would also Like to thank Sheriff Matt Oller and the staff at the Audrain County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance during this time.