PIKE COUNTY, Mo. — The following is a report provided by Pike County Sheriff Stephen Korte:
At the County Commission’s regular scheduled meeting yesterday (8 Dec 2022), they authorized me to begin advertising an increase to the starting wages for jail staff. This is ahead of the completion of the 2023 budget. This is an effort to recruit and retain jail staff. The new wage is $17.00 an hour, along with retirement and health benefits. It is hoped that this increase may prevent or shorten a possible suspension in jail operations.
The Sheriff’s Office is currently operating in crises response mode. Between being short 7 of our allotted 23 employees, our normal operations and additional responses to Louisiana do to their staff situation; for the 14 day pay period beginning November 24th and ending December 7th, full time staff worked 238 hours of regular overtime and 5 reserve Deputies worked 172 hours. I am also aware of some staff who worked hours but refuse to put them on time sheets.
That was a typical 2 weeks for us here, with the exception of the first two days being holidays with no court.
10 separate court sessions requiring Bailiff’s.
Inmates picked up for court and returned to facilities in Fulton, Jefferson City, Boonville and Pacific.
Received reports of and investigating:
3 sex related cases involving juveniles
1 sex offender not in compliance
1 armed robbery
4 theft of property
1 property damage
2 narcotics cases
3 harassment
2 domestic disturbances
1 Assault
1 assault on law enforcement
2 unattended deaths
2 traffic crashes
3 traffic stops
1 accidental discharge of firearm resulting in injury
35 persons booked in, 41 persons released
In addition to this, there were dozens of contacts not requiring reports, most being citizens coming in or calling to ask questions.
I ask for the community’s patience when waiting for a Deputy to respond, sometimes calls for active emergencies come in while we are responding to or working on other cases. With over 18,000 citizens and 670 square miles we have a lot of ground to cover.
The original story was Suspended operations at Pike County Jail, and can be read by clicking the previous link.
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