Sheriff's Dispatch, Aug. 27, 2019

Hello Benton County,

 I wanted to give you a short follow up to last week's dispatch. There are still a few issues you need to know that are going to affect all of us, but I did not want last week's dispatch any longer or abuse the generosity of our local papers, who graciously print this for me.

You need to know that law enforcement no longer has the ability to send repeat offenders (or any offenders for that matter) that are on parole, back to the Department of Correction (DOC)  for violating the conditions of their parole. In the recent past Probation and Parole Officers would adopt law enforcement's probable cause statement and petition the court for a warrant to have the suspect remanded back to DOC while awaiting local court proceedings. Not anymore! Now the powers to be (the DOC) will refuse admittance. The process now will require said offender to be released back on the street (due to the recently discussed bail issues) and participate in our judicial process which can take months or even years! If found guilty, a parole board will convene and decide if the parolee will be re-incarcerated. I can tell you that our local P&P folks are just as unhappy as our law enforcement! 

In the past, the offender would be sent back to DOC almost immediately to continue serving out the previous sentence. The offending suspect would be brought back from DOC on a writ (if the DOC even held them after delivery) and then participate in court proceedings. They would then be returned to DOC while awaiting their next court date, which could be weeks or months depending on attorney legal maneuverings. This is unacceptable to me, and you need to know the issues that will affect you.

I want to visit with you about the ankle monitoring program the state is forcing on the counties. In my humble opinion, it's another state mandated program that is not going to be funded by the state, but thrust upon the counties to try and pay for, manage, and laughably...enforce. It's intended to be a pre and post-trial monitoring program to help keep people out of jail. I will share more on this subject in the future, but please feel free to research everything I've written about.

I'm going to change gears on you. I want to talk to you about installing address signage at the entrance to your property or on your house if you live in an area with multiple properties in close proximity. Those tiny numbers we plaster on our mailboxes work great for our mail man (or woman) to get those bills to us, but are lousy for emergency responders. When seconds really count, we find ourselves backtracking looking for those tiny numbers, trying to find the right house to potentially save a life. This goes for all critical services. Central Dispatch (911 building) offers high-quality, high visibility, reflective signage for a mere $15.00 (cost) in two colors, brown or blue. They measure approximately 24 inches by 6 inches with 3 inch letters. Now, I don't care where you purchase your sign, but please buy a quality reflective sign that emergency personnel can see on the fly, in the dark, at a glance. It may save your life.

I promised you transparency when I became your Sheriff and that's what I've brought to the Office. I have made changes within the Office to better serve you. We have better equipment, better training and supervision on every shift, where before, there was very little. I have done all I can to improve your Sheriff's Office, within our budgetary constraints. I can't fix the issues I've discussed with you, without your help. Jefferson City is where we have to go for positive change. My Sheriff counterparts testify every session on some outlandish proposal that would be detrimental to our way of life and I will be there as well. Talk to your prospective representatives and let them know how you feel. If you have questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me at the Office at 660-438-6135 or on my cell phone at 660-428-5155.

Sheriff Knox