Crime bill offers additional funding source for county law enforcement agencies

Local impact of new fees is hard to estimate.

By Steve Moyer

and Marc Powers

Nevada Daily Mail

After six years of failed efforts by Missouri lawmakers and sheriffs, legislation intended to bolster local law enforcement funding is finally poised to become law.

On Monday in Creve Couer, Gov. Bob Holden is scheduled to sign a bill that will allow county commissions to establish crime restitution funds to be supported by fees of up to $300 paid by criminal defendants as a term of probation. Holden vetoed a similar proposal last year.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan, a primary booster of the legislation, said that the additional revenue is sorely needed, particularly in outstate counties.

"It is going to be a great day for rural law enforcement; there is no question about that," Jordan said. "To finally get that funding mechanism back, it took a strong bipartisan effort."

Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman agrees that rural counties need the funding but isn't sure what kind of impact it will actually have.

"I think it will be some extra funding that will help out the county but I don't think it will be that much. I think Sheriff Jordan is pretty optimistic about how much they are going to receive."

Jordan estimates that Cape Girardeau County will collect at least $50,000 a year from the fees.

Peckman pointed out that the bill allows "up to $300" and that it is up to individual counties to set the amount. He also said that collecting the money could be a problem.

"It's up to the judge and where he sets it. Anyway, a lot of people don't pay their court costs so it could be hard to collect," Peckman noted.

Many rural counties had similar funds until 1998 when a judicial ethics commission ruled those counties exceeded their legal authority in creating them.

Holden cited a constitutional flaw in vetoing the 2003 bill, but worked with the proposal's sponsor, state Rep. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, this year to craft language to overcome the problem. The measure will take effect Aug. 28.

The legislation has been the top legislative priority of the Missouri Sheriffs' Association during the long push for passage.

"It is very important, especially for smaller counties like those in the Bootheel, because sheriffs have been inundated with several new duties without extra funding," said Jim Vermeersch, the association's executive director.

Mayer inserted the crime fund provision into another bill strengthening penalties for sexual offenses against children.

The broader bill would double the existing statute of limitations on prosecuting such crimes, allowing charges to be brought up to 20 years after a victim reaches age 18. It would also make a first offense for possessing child pornography a felony and expand Missouri's sex offender registry to include those convicted of promoting child pornography.

In addition to Holden's rejection of the crime fund legislation last year, then-Gov. Mel Carnahan also vetoed the proposal in 1999. Passage of the 2001 version was nullified on a technicality.

Fund proceeds could be used for a variety of expenses incurred by sheriffs departments, prosecuting attorneys offices and municipal police agencies.

The funds in each county will be managed by an independent board of trustees. A county's sheriff and prosecuting attorney will each appoint two members with a fifth member picked by the county coroner.

On the same day, Holden also plans to sign another measure that would make cross burning with the intent to intimidate a specific crime in Missouri. Senate Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, sponsored the bill in the upper chamber.

The child pornography and crime fund bill is HB 1055. The cross burning bill is HB 1074.