Dear Osage County,
This November, Missouri voters will have an important decision to make concerning the Office of Sheriff.
Amendment 8 is simple at its heart: it protects the people’s right to elect their county sheriff and puts the office and its core duties into the Missouri Constitution.
Today, Missouri law provides for the election of sheriffs to four-year terms and establishes their duties. Amendment 8 would place those provisions in our state Constitution. It would also recognize the elected sheriff as the chief law enforcement officer of the county and establish constitutional protections concerning the sheriff’s duties, employees and removal from office.
Why does that matter?
Because the people of a county should have a voice in who serves as their sheriff.
Your sheriff lives in your community. You know where that sheriff lives. You know his or her family. You see the sheriff at the grocery store, at church, at community events and on the roads of your county.
Most importantly, you get to decide at the ballot box whether that person continues to serve you.
Amendment 8 puts that principle into our Constitution.
It does not create a new statewide police force. It does not take the sheriff away from the people. Instead, it establishes in the Constitution that counties covered by the amendment will elect their sheriff every four years and that the sheriff will serve as the county’s chief law enforcement officer.
It also places specific duties that are currently established by statute into the Constitution. Those include responsibilities involving law enforcement, the courts, the jail and maintaining the peace.
That is important because statutes can be changed by the Legislature. Constitutional provisions require a constitutional change.
This is about protecting local representation for the future.
No one knows what the Legislature, future governors or future administrations may look like 10, 20 or 50 years from now. Amendment 8 establishes a constitutional foundation for the elected county sheriff rather than leaving these important provisions only in state statute.
And there is another important protection.
Under Amendment 8, an elected county sheriff could not simply be removed from office through an ordinary administrative decision. The amendment provides a formal process that removal would occur through a writ of quo warranto initiated by the Attorney General.
This is not about protecting one sheriff.
It is about protecting the office of sheriff and the people’s right to choose who holds that office.
Republican, Democrat or independent. Rural county or urban county. It should not matter.
The question is simple: Who should choose your sheriff the people of your county, or someone farther removed from your community?
For generations, Missourians have elected their sheriffs. Amendment 8 would place that tradition and the core responsibilities of the office into the Missouri Constitution.
On November 3, 2026, Missourians will have the opportunity to decide this question for themselves.
Whatever your political party, I encourage you to read the amendment, understand what it does, and make your decision based on the facts.
For me, the most important part is this: The people who live in a county should have a voice in who protects that county.
That is what local government is supposed to be about.
The sheriff belongs to the people. Amendment 8 would help keep it that way.
Sheriff Michael Bonham
106 East Main St.
Linn, Missouri 65051
Sheriff of Osage County
