VIENNA — Chief Deputy Scott John came to the Oct. 19 Maries County Commission meeting to inform the commission he was starting to look for property the sheriff’s office could buy to meet some of its needs.

John said the sheriff’s office needs more space for storage.

“I have equipment scattered on people’s property who are letting us store it there,” he said. “Which causes all kinds of rumor and speculation as to who’s doing what with the property.”

John said although the sheriff’s office keeps property at several different locations, it also keeps a complete record of what goes where. If the sheriff’s office could get a fenced lot, it would help to keep equipment in one place.

All three commissioners agreed that the sheriff’s office needs more storage space.

“There are a lot of people going ‘How come that’s over here? How come that’s over there?’” Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel said about sheriff’s office equipment.

John said eventually the sheriff’s office could add some training facilities to the space. Maries County does not have a pistol range, and having one would help with sheriff’s office training.

The sheriff’s office has extra funds available after receiving back pay from the Missouri Department of Corrections. John said the office could use the money to invest in its future.

John said he would begin looking for a spot and let the commission know before he made a purchase.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre asked John about how the sheriff’s office has saved money to buy new vehicles. He said some members of the public had asked him about it.

John said the sheriff’s office saves more than enough in repair costs to pay for new vehicles. The savings are part of Sheriff Chris Heitman’s plan to put the vehicles on a purchase rotation. The sheriff’s office has eight patrol vehicles, another vehicle for jailers to transport inmates, a patrol vehicle for the civil service officer and the sheriff’s vehicle. John estimated the average patrol vehicle sees about 40,000 miles of use each year. Those vehicles usually last about three or four years before the sheriff’s office trades them in for newer models. By that time, the warranties have usually ended on the vehicles.

Fagre asked if the law enforcement sales tax covers the cost of the vehicles.

John said the sheriff’s office budget for the sales tax covers the rotation of buying about three new vehicles per year. He added that keeping vehicles up to date and on a rotation means deputies have reliable ways of getting where they need to be to respond to a call.

“Having quality vehicles that are under warranty saves the county money and it keeps our people safe,” John said. “We’re not spending that much more than we would keeping older fleet vehicles.”

During the meeting, John also shared that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) had selected the sheriff’s office to receive a jail improvement grant. The purpose of the grant is to help jails mitigate the risk of infectious diseases in their facilities.

John planned to submit a budget sheet outlining how the sheriff’s office would spend the $157,000 allocated for the grant. After receiving the budget sheet, DHSS will approve the list of items. The budget sheet John drafted included a new HVAC system, two stackable washer and dryer units, cleaning and disinfectant supplies and mounted respiration and heart rate monitors that would alert jailers if an inmate had an irregular reading. The proposal also included a new camera system with facial-recognition technology that could scan jail footage and find all the times a specific person appeared in the footage.

“We’re going to be able to get some expensive things done downstairs,” John said.

Cemeteries

Recently, the commission has received inquiries about county-owned cemeteries. In both instances, the commission did not know the county owned the cemetery in question. The commission wanted to see a complete list of cemeteries that the county owns.

At the Oct. 19 meeting, the commissioners went through a stack of documents from the assessor’s office that included ownership information for cemeteries in the county. Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman separated the stack between cemeteries the county owns and cemeteries it does not own.

By the end of the meeting, the pile for county-owned cemeteries had about 30 documents. Some of the documents did not include cemetery names, so County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said some could be duplicates. After checking with the recorder’s office, Drewel found one of the documents actually showed one of the county road sheds rather than a cemetery.

The date on one of the deeds was 1895. The commission questioned why anyone would give cemeteries to the county. Fagre did some research and found that Missouri State Statute 214.090 states:

“Any person desirous of securing family burying ground or cemetery on his or her lands, may convey to the county commission of the county in which the land lies any quantity of land not exceeding one acre, in trust for the purpose above mentioned, the deed for which to be recorded within sixty days after the conveyance; and such grounds, when so conveyed, shall be held in perpetuity as burying grounds or cemeteries for the use and benefit of the family and descendants of the person making such conveyance.”

The commissioners suspected the county may have come into ownership of several small cemeteries decades ago because of the statute.

Insurance

On Oct. 16, the commission met with Jennifer Gerling of Wallstreet Group, the county’s insurance broker. She said the county’s liability insurance provider MOPERM had sent out letters anticipating a significant increase in rates. Many companies have cited losses as reasons for increasing rates around the country.

Gerling suggested the commissioners get quotes from another company as a backup plan if they thought the new rate from MOPERM would be too high. She went through a list of questions about employment policies to send to Travelers Insurance for a quote.

At the end of the discussion, there was a section of questions the commission said would pertain more to the sheriff’s office. Gerling said she could send the questions to the sheriff’s office before requesting the quote.

Gerling also asked about cybersecurity insurance because she had heard the courthouse was the target of a cyberattack.

Last month, a cyberattack on the county slowed the internet service at the courthouse. The landline phones also experienced delays. IT Manager Shane Sweno said someone had attacked the courthouse’s communications systems, but it was not severe enough to trigger a security alert. It took a little while to know an attack had happened. No significant harm occurred during the attack because of the strength of the courthouse’s firewall.

Stratman said it was worth looking into the price of cyber insurance.

Later in the meeting, the commission met with Casey Chastain, a commercial lines agent with insurance company Higginbotham. He said the state of the insurance market was worse than he had ever seen during his 22 years in the business. Weather events and inflation in the costs of materials and labor have made prices rise.

Fagre asked what kind of insurance Higginbotham handles.

Chastain said the company offers a full package including property, liability, law enforcement and cyber insurance.

Fagre asked how often Chastain visits clients.

Chastain said he likes to make quarterly visits, but he could schedule additional visits as needed. One of the benefits he described for choosing Higginbotham was the company’s Day Two Services program that offers clients year-round help for things such as benefit plans, human resources services, policy compliance, open enrollment and more.

During the discussion, Chastain also asked about cyber insurance. He had heard about the cyberattack and offered to connect the commission with Stacey Horne, the founder of Stillwater Ecosystem, which helps Higginbotham with matters related to cyber insurance. Chastain said if the county worked with Higginbotham, then Horne would be available to answer questions and advise them on how they could possibly improve their cyber insurance rates.

Later, Chastain called Horne so the commission could talk with him about cyber insurance. Stratman told Horne about the cyberattack on the courthouse. He said the commissioners were proud the cybersecurity in place was able to fend off the attack.

“But maybe that was the dumbest hacker out there, not the smartest,” he said. “What if despite our best efforts somebody does get in?”

Horne said if the county worked with Higginbotham, he could do his best to give advice after a cyberattack. He said it sounded like the cyberattack on the courthouse was low-level like about half of all cyberattacks.

After the call with Horne, Stratman asked Chastain if the county could possibly have a cyber insurance policy through Higginbotham even if it did not decide to get any of the company’s other services.

Chastain said it was a possibility he could discuss with the commissioners after they had some time to think about Higginbotham as a whole.

The commission told Chastain he could enter a bid for the county’s insurance policies.

Road Signs

During the Oct. 16 meeting, Drewel called one of the Road Two employees to have them put up a sign for Maries Road 429. He said it was the third time in two weeks the road had needed a new sign.

Fagre said he has also had trouble keeping road signs up in the southwestern part of his district.

Drewel said he sometimes finds signs just lying in creeks. Fagre said he thinks many end up in scrapyards.