With the Callaway County Commission's approval of its 2015 budget at its Monday meeting, the sheriff's office and prosecuting attorney's office will increase their staffing.
The sheriff's office will add two more deputies, making the force of 20 deputies and investigators bump up to 22. Clay Chism, an investigator with the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, said he's thankful the commission recognized the department's need for additional officers.
Deputies responded to 17,164 calls this year, as of Tuesday, Dec. 30. In 2009, they received 11,413 calls. That's a 34 percent difference, Chism said. Due to understaffing, he added that officers tend to run from call to call, leaving little to no time to check up on earlier cases.
"An additional two officers is huge," Chism said. "It will allow for the department to better follow up on investigations and provide more patrol of the county."
Callaway County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Wilson said the numbers from his office warranted another assistant prosecuting attorney - bringing the total number of attorneys to four with Wilson and three assistants. The felony caseload for himself and his first assistant prosecuting attorney, Casey Clevenger, increased 50 percent each this year.
Wilson's office tried 917 felony cases and 4,160 misdemeanor cases in 2014 compared to 591 felony cases and 3,609 misdemeanors the year before. In addition to the numbers, Wilson contributed other factors as to why another assistant is necessary:
•Deputies increased usage of body cameras. Wilson said his staff is now reviewing video taken by sheriff's deputies, treating the footage as evidence. The sheriff's office assessed utilizing body cameras before a police officer shot and killed an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, but the event has caused the department - like many across the nation - to put an emphasis on using body cameras. The prosecuting attorney's office receives video from officers interacting with victims, suspects or sometimes both, and multiple pieces of footage from a single incident can take a considerable amount of time to watch, Wilson said.
•More successful prosecutions of domestic violence offenders. Four years ago, Callaway County was awarded a grant to pay for the hourly-wage of a domestic violence officer. Matthew Palmer with the sheriff's office has held that position, putting more domestic violent offenders behind bars.
•Law change regarding sex offenders. The Missouri Supreme Court decided a year ago that new laws can apply to convicted criminals whose offense occurred prior to the law. The court sided against three male sex offenders who faced new charges after a 2009 Missouri law passed that made it illegal for them and other convicted sex offenders to be within 500 feet of a public park with playground equipment or a public swimming pool, according to the Associated Press. Wilson said the change caused a "flood gate" of cases that his office was able to prosecute.
•SORTS assaults. In August, a Missouri law became effective that changed a misdemeanor assault to a felony for those in the Fulton State Hospital's Sexual Offender and Rehabilitation and Treatment Service program. Prior to the law, assaults that took place inside SORTS were considered misdemeanors under the legal definition of a serious injury, Wilson said. Trying someone in SORTS for felony assault was difficult, he said, although it was accomplished with more violent cases. Unlike other FSH patients, Wilson said SORTS patients are considered mentally competent and they can be tried for assaults on employees and patients alike. SORTS patients who are prosecuted will serve time in the Department of Corrections or the Callaway County Jail and then go back to the Fulton State Hospital for completion of that program.
Wilson presented the commission with a 20-year reflection of crime in Callaway. It shows a steady increase throughout the time span, which Wilson credited to more people living in the county and harsher laws changing what were once misdemeanors to felonies.
The commission has budgeted an estimated revenue of $7,672,000 for 2015 and appropriated $7,756,000 from the general revenue fund, according to Callaway County Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann. He added that the county still has about $7 million in its reserve fund.
County employees will receive a one percent cost-of-living pay increase. The commission has also budgeted for an additional two percent merit-based pay increase.
Statistical analysis of cases prosecuted in Callaway County (1994-2014) provided by Prosecuting Attorney Chris Wilson
Year - felonies/misdemeanors
1994 - 343/6,559
1995 - 262/5,992
1996 - 370/5,881
1997 - 458/5,289
1998 - 386/5,921
1999 - 362/5,761
2000 - 523/4,562
2001 - 347/4,013
2002 - 413/1,679 (dramatic decrease in misdemeanor filings due to Fine Collection Center in Jefferson City, which allows certain cases not to go through the Callaway County Prosecuting Attorney's Office).
2003 - 447/1,289*
2004 - 631/1,607*
2005 - 417/1,452*
2006 - 567/1,401
2007 - 450/1,461
2008 - 446/1,282
2009 - 452/2,224
2010 - 498/2,095
2011 - 617/2,736
2012 - 607/2,547
2013 - 591/3,609
2014 - 917/4,160
*Four full-time prosecuting attorneys and no investigator