VIENNA — Deputy Coroner and Public Administrator-elect Amanda Sandbothe visited the Nov. 14 Maries County Commission meeting to discuss her new role and the transition between coroner administrations.

As the new public administrator, Sandbothe asked if the county could provide her with office space in the courthouse. The commission discussed a few places the office could go before deciding to look at the former IT office, which had remained untouched since the previous manager left earlier this year.

The office was packed with equipment in various conditions, and the county commission was unsure of what worked and what did not work. Western District Commissioner-elect Patrick Kleffner, who has a background in technology, said he could go through the equipment to determine what would be worth saving. Once the commission knew what they needed to save, they could clean out the office and use it for the public administrator.

As deputy coroner, Sandbothe said she was coming to the commission on behalf of Coroner David Martin, who was unable to attend the meeting because of another appointment. For the first time in 48 years, the county will have a new coroner after Tom Tramel won the Nov. 5 election.

The first item Sandbothe asked about was the emergency lights that the county bought for the coroner’s van in August 2023 at a $1,340 cost. Although Martin and Sandbothe used the van for their work in the coroner’s office, Martin privately owns it. He requested to buy the lights from the county so they may remain on the van.

The commissioners agreed that they had no problem selling the lights to Martin. Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel said there was no need to rush, and they could work out a deal closer to Martin’s term expiring in the new year.

Sandbothe’s second question was about the coroner’s office records, which date back to when Martin first took office in 1976.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre asked how long the records need to stay on file. Sandbothe said she believed the records must be kept forever.

“I was hoping to turn everything electronic in 2025,” she said.

Fagre questioned what it would cost to digitize the record. County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers suggested looking into possible grants to have the Missouri State Archives handle digitization. The county worked in the past with the Missouri Secretary of State’s office to digitize old records.

Another consideration Sandbothe shared with the commission is where Tramel will store medications. She said medical waste company Stericycle makes quarterly visits to Birmingham-Martin Funeral Home to collect expired materials from the coroner’s office. The account is in the funeral home’s name, so the county will need to establish a new one.

Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman asked if Sandbothe or Martin could come to a future commission meeting to speak with Tramel about the job. Sandbothe said she could if she did not have other obligations at the funeral home.

Sandbothe said there is a lot that goes into being a coroner or deputy coroner. Recently, updated laws require people serving in those roles to receive death investigator training. She said there are also unforeseen challenges, such as earlier that morning when she had to get the van unstuck from mud on a 3 a.m. call.

Additionally, the coroner orders autopsies, which can take many months, so the new administration will have to work with the old administration on any open death cases. Changes to regulations have caused an increase in autopsies as coroners carry out death investigations to determine more detailed causes of death. Sandbothe said when the county needs autopsies, the body usually goes to Boone County, but the new coroner will need to make arrangements for what happens.

Stratman called Tramel and left a message asking him to come to another meeting to discuss more about the office.

Sales Taxes

Treasurer Angie Pasley reported the county’s sales tax figures for November.

In November, the first sales tax brought $34,018.90 to General Revenue, which was a 6-percent increase from last November.

The second sales tax, which gives one-third to each of General Revenue, Citizens Safety and Roads, brought the county $33,903.82 in revenue in November, which was also a 6-percent increase from last November.

The third sales tax brought the county $33,903.63 in November, which was another 6-percent increase from last November. Two-thirds of the tax supports Citizen Safety. Roads and General Revenue split the other one-third.

The law enforcement sales tax also had a 6-percent increase from last November with $11,255.80 in revenue.

The use tax had a 45-percent increase from last November with $24,208.52 in revenue.

Fagre asked about the expiration of the sales taxes so other commissioners would know when to run them on the ballot for renewal.

The law enforcement sales tax expires in September 2025 and will need to run on next April’s ballot if voters want to continue it without any gaps. The fund brought the county $119,103.44 in 2023 and is on pace to surpass that figure this year.

The one-third sales tax that divides its revenue between General Revenue, Citizens Safety and the two road funds expires at the end of 2026. It brought the county $358,750.74 in 2023 and is on pace to surpass that total this year.

Plumbing

Maciejewski Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning had fixed a leak in the employee restroom the previous week but was back at the courthouse on Nov. 14 to look at an air conditioner that was freezing.

Stratman acknowledged that the remodel of the employee restroom was nearly completed, which concluded upgrades the commission planned throughout this year to five courthouse restrooms.

Sheriff-elect Mark Morgan mentioned that one of the jailers had told him about an issue causing the toilets in the men’s jail to back up into the shower. Stratman said the jail had plumbing issues before when inmates had flushed electronic cigarettes down the toilet. Although that was not the cause of the issue this time because the jail is currently unoccupied, Morgan suggested looking into devices that will keep objects such as e-cigarettes from flushing to prevent that problem in the future.

Insurance

The commission met with representatives from Wallstreet Group to discuss the health insurance rates for next year. The rates have a 0 percent increase from this year’s rates. The commission also agreed to switch the county’s basic life insurance plan to Mutual of Omaha, which will save the county about $1,500 per year.