A law was passed in 2008 aimed at bolstering the salaries of underpaid sheriffs’ deputies in the state. The chairman of the board that oversees its application says it will be a few more months before any money begins flowing.
The deputy sheriff salary supplementation fund is administered by the Missouri Sheriff Methamphetamine Relief Task Force (MOSMART). It is chaired by Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, who says he doesn’t expect any money to be distributed until after January 1.
Boyer says the MOSMART Board will next create the applications sheriffs will use to request money from the fund.
As of July 31st the fund balance was $11,963,635.46. The legislature appropriated 6.4 million dollars from the fund, but without a distribution mechanism in place none of it has been used. The money comes from a $10 charge on each civil subpoena or summons delivered by a sheriff’s department. Collection of that fee has been ongoing since the law went into effect in 2008.
How far that money will go, Boyer says, depends on how many sheriff’s departments apply for it and how much they ask for. He says he sympathizes with sheriffs who want to know what to tell their deputies, and with the deputies who are waiting to see if they will get a pay increase.
The next meeting of the MOSMART board is September 21st at the Missouri Sheriff’s Association headquarters in Jefferson City.
