BELLE — Belle Marshal Jerry Coborn is defending the city’s police department after comments made during the June 29 meeting where Alderman Steve Vogt suggested Belle should consider returning law enforcement services to the Maries County Sheriff’s Office due to lack of revenue.

During an interview on July 9, Coborn said he was not surprised by the discussion, describing it as a continuation of a longstanding disagreement over traffic enforcement and fine revenue.

Coborn also encouraged residents who support maintaining Belle’s police department to become involved in the discussion by attending Board of Aldermen meetings and voicing their opinions to elected officials.

“The people of Belle know I show up and I do my job,” Coborn said. “I’ve done it consistently. I think I’ve improved both how people see the department and I think I have kept my end of what I’ve told the people I would do, as far as being consistent, regardless of what name or title they hold. ... If people want this police department here, they want this marshal position here, they need to show up, speak up, and let them know that they are elected as well, and that they need to do what the people want.”

Coborn said he believes much of the ongoing disagreement over the department centers on expectations surrounding traffic enforcement and municipal fine revenue.

“My assessment of the situation is they scream tickets, tickets, tickets,” Coborn said. “I have told them multiple times for years now that it is officer discretion. I’m not going to demand that my guys write tickets.”

Coborn said he believes law enforcement responsibilities extend far beyond traffic enforcement.

“We assist other agencies, we assist people on pretty much anything they need,” he said. “Whether they approach us one on one or whether they call it into the 911 center. It could be a missing person, it could be a dog call, it could be anything. I just want my officers to do their due diligence according to the law.”

He added that he would never instruct officers to issue citations simply to generate revenue.

“Running traffic to bring in revenue, I will not do, not now, not ever,” said Coborn, who is paid $100 a month for his duties as marshal and $52,000 annually for his roles as street commissioner and building inspector.

When asked whether directing officers to meet citation quotas would be improper, Coborn responded, “If I tell my guys to go out there and write citations, specifically you have a quota to meet, that is against the law.”

Coborn said he believes Vogt’s primary concern has been increasing revenue.

“All he cares about is revenue,” Coborn said.

Budget documents reviewed by The Maries County Advocate show the city’s current police department budget anticipated $50,000 in fine revenue, while the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget projects $45,600. The city’s records list the department’s historical average fine revenue at $19,612.20, meaning the proposed budget still anticipates approximately 132.5% more fine revenue than the department has historically averaged.

According to Coborn, that line item should not dictate how officers perform their duties.

“I’ve not even obtained that yet,” he said. “That’s part of my budget that’s already grafted in to what I’m expected to produce, and I don’t work that way. I work according to the state statute. It’s officer discretion, and we have more duties than just sitting there writing tickets on the side of the road.”

Coborn said he has repeatedly explained that he will not require officers to meet ticket quotas, regardless of outside pressure.

“I have told him at least 10 times in open session from the time that I’ve taken this position, I cannot tell my guys they have to have a quota,” Coborn said. “I will not, regardless of whether they threaten to take my department away or not, I will not do it. I will not be bullied or harassed or intimidated by outside agencies or by the city council. I have a job to do.”

Coborn also pointed to what he described as improvements in public safety during his tenure.

“Nobody can say I’m not doing my job,” he said. “The drugs have went down. The violent crime, domestics, have went down. Belle has probably 60 or 70 perccent of all the call volume of the whole county. Everything has went down. I show up every day. I do my job.”

Reflecting on his philosophy of policing, Coborn said treating people fairly has been central to his approach over more than two decades in law enforcement.

“I’ve learned over 21 years that it’s not always just cut and dry,” he said. “The main focus I’ve learned is to treat everybody like I want to be treated.”

Coborn said that approach has helped build trust with many people he has arrested.

“The reason they come back and thank me... is because they know that if I say I’m going to do something, I do it,” he said. “I don’t care about position. I don’t care about your title. I don’t care about what your family name is. Everybody’s equal. If you break the law, then I’m going to do what the law requires me to do, but I’m fair across the board.”

Coborn also said he was not asked to provide input during development of the police department’s budget.

“The budget was already, I guess, made,” he said. “All they did was just vote on it. I was just back there listening like everybody else.”

He questioned the city’s reliance on projected fine revenue, saying traffic citation income can fluctuate significantly from year to year.

“Fine revenue should not even be in my budget,” Coborn said. “Fine revenue is after the fact. What I brought in for the previous year, it shouldn’t even be a factor in the current budget to make $50,000.”

Despite the recent discussion, Coborn said his commitment to serving the community remains unchanged.

“I am going to remain in this county, serving the people of this county, regardless,” he said. “I’m going to show up and continue to serve the people of Maries County and the people of Belle and do my job correctly. I don’t show any partiality based on my feelings. If the facts are there, then the facts are there.”

The Advocate reached out to the Belle Board of Alderman and Mayor James (Pudd) Mitchell on July 9 with questions concerning this topic. As of press time, no responses had been received.