BELLE — The Maries County Presiding Commissioner Vic Stratman told Prosecuting Attorney Anthony (Tony) Skouby he should pay his office’s share of MULES costs in voicemail that he left during the Feb. 17 meeting.

Commissioners reviewed a bill related to MULES, the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System, and discussed whether the prosecuting attorney’s office should cover its portion of the expense.

Discussion indicated that while the sheriff’s office would pay its share of the MULES access costs, commissioners believed the prosecuting attorney’s portion should come from that office’s budget. If funding is unavailable, commissioners suggested the Law Enforcement Restitution Fund as an alternative.

During the meeting, Stratman called Skouby and left a message addressing the issue directly.

“This one is marked prosecuting attorney. And yeah, we feel like you ought to pay that. If you can’t pay that on your budget, then go to the Restitution Fund and request it from there. But that’s what we think ought to happen there,” Stratman said.

Vehicle use also came under scrutiny after Sheriff Mark Morgan confirmed that 911 Director Nicole Bexten was issued a take-home vehicle.

“I hear she’s driving a car,” Stratman said.

“She is,” Morgan replied.

When asked if that was appropriate, Morgan responded, “Yes, sir. It is. She asked for a raise last year. I couldn’t give her a raise last year. So to help accommodate her financially, I give her a take home car.”

Morgan added that compared to other 911 directors, Bexten was “probably $2 to $3 an hour short” and confirmed she has an administrative vehicle.

Following that exchange, Maries County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said she would like similar consideration for Deputy Clerk Renee Kottwitz.

“Well, I’d like to have a vehicle for my deputy clerk. I mean, we have a (expletive deleted) ton of work in there. There’s just one person in there other than me doing it,” Rodgers said.

“So, you know, if that’s the precedent that we’re going to set, then I think she deserves one also, we can’t afford to give her a raise, so,” she said. “I’m going to request that.”

Commissioners took no action on the request.

Commissioners also addressed concerns about the sheriff’s office shopping at Walmart rather than purchasing locally.

“We discussed it at budget time, but we didn’t discuss them shopping locally again,” Western District Commissioner Patrick Kleffner said.

Morgan said cost differences are a key factor in determining where purchases are made, noting that local prices are often higher.

However, commissioners emphasized that the larger concern was staff time spent shopping during work hours.

“The real issue I have is the time that they spend on that away from the county,” Stratman said.

Officials discussed the possibility of using pickup or delivery services to reduce time spent away from duties.

Commissioners reviewed a bid to repair the courthouse ADA door opener, with the submitted quote totaling $4,064, slightly above the approximately $4,000 previously budgeted.

The repair would cover the automatic opener and related hardware to ensure the courthouse entrance remains accessible and compliant.

Commissioners also discussed whether the courthouse’s no-smoking policy should explicitly include vaping. While smoking is prohibited inside the building, vaping has not been directly addressed in policy language.

Commissioners cited concerns about health risks and potential liability and said they plan to research how other counties are handling the issue before taking further action.