VIENNA — The Maries County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund (MCLERF) Board of Trustees on Feb. 15 held its first meeting in more than two years to approve spending requests from Sheriff Chris Heitman and Prosecuting Attorney Tony Skouby.

Missouri State Statute 50.565 allows counties to establish law enforcement restitution funds overseen by a board of trustees. The trustees may not be current or former elected officials nor current or former employees of the sheriff’s office, prosecuting attorney’s office, county commissioner’s office or the treasurer’s office. The presiding county commissioner and sheriff each appoint two members to the board. The coroner appoints one board member. Maries County’s board members are Cindy Butler, Bob Lemberger, Chris Slocum, Justin Smith and Clifford Wagner.

Money in the MCLERF comes from court costs such as traffic fines. The statute requires that a majority of the board members approve the use of the funds. The board may approve expenditures that fulfill at least one of five purposes:

1. Narcotics investigation, prevention and intervention;

2. Purchase of law enforcement-related equipment and supplies for the sheriff’s office;

3. Matching funds for federal or state law enforcement grants;

4. Funding for the reporting of all state and federal crime statistics or information; and,

5. Any county law enforcement-related expense, including those of the prosecuting attorney, approved by the board of trustees for the county law enforcement restitution fund that is reasonably related to the investigation, charging, preparation, trial and disposition of criminal cases before the courts of the State of Missouri.

“About a year ago, I really got interested in what we could do with this law enforcement restitution fund,” Skouby told the board. “(Chief Deputy Scott John) and I met and talked some things over, and with his cooperation and the cooperation of the highway patrol, we have really made use of this fund.”

When the group last convened in 2022, the balance of the fund was $29,154.52. As of Feb. 13, the fund had amassed $124,350. Skouby said an increased presence by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and more traffic stops by the sheriff’s office have contributed to the fund’s growth.

“Our numbers have increased, and they’re not really picking on the county citizens,” he said. “These are people driving through our county at speeds of 100 miles per hour.”

Skouby presented the proposal on which he and the sheriff’s office collaborated.

The first request was to designate $50,000 to the county budget to help cover the cost of the prosecuting attorney’s first year of full-time salary. In 2022, Maries County voters approved the position’s promotion to full-time, which increased the salary from a scale ranging from $37,000 to $55,000 according to assessed valuation, to the same value as an associate circuit judge, which is $153,000 in 2024, as determined by the state.

“That has put a strain on our county budget,” Skouby said. “There’s no way an attorney could survive on a part-time schedule for our size county.”

The second request was for the fund to pay the sheriff’s office’s $12,000 annual contract fee with the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group (LANEG).

“They do a lot of good work busting drug dealers in this county,” Skouby said.

The third request was for the fund to pay the sheriff’s office’s $6,385.50 maintenance fee for the Cellebrite software.

“That’s what goes through the phones and unlocks all the hidden secrets,” Skouby said.

John said the fee would keep the sheriff’s office’s software caught up with software updates to phones. Phone companies frequently try to close entry points for law enforcement, so up-to-date software is crucial for the program to remain effective.

The fourth request was for the fund to pay the $5,000 annual maintenance fee for the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA), which is software that analyzes a person’s voice during interrogations and charts patterns that could denote stress.

“Having the CVSA and the Cellebrite speeds up our investigations,” John said. “We’re not having to rely on the state crime lab. Before, you’d send a phone off to the lab and it would be three or four months before you got your data back.”

The fifth request was for new body armor for the sheriff’s office’s tactical team. The last time the board met, it approved pistol-rated tactical vests. This wave of vests would be rifle-rated.

“Right now, our guys just wear plate carriers when they go in the door,” John said. “Honestly, if you’re going into a gunfight, you need a little bit more protection.”

“If you need to use them one time, then that’s all you need to justify it,” Smith, the board’s chairperson, said.

Later, Skouby added an additional request for $2,500 for software training for employees of the prosecutor’s office.

“I’m going to ask you to spend a lot of money today,” Skouby told the board. “But it’s money that I think is well worth it to invest in the infrastructure of our county. We are growing. Our needs are growing faster than our resources.”

Slocum said he was in favor of funding all the requests, but he wanted to make sure all the requests qualified under the statute, especially the money for the prosecuting attorney’s salary.

“There have been more and more county commissioners throughout the country challenged on how they’re spending money,” he said. “I want to make sure this doesn’t look shady to people.”

“I think the lawbreakers, people breaking the law, are picking up the tab,” Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said. “I think that’s the way it should be.”

Smith said that was why he had asked if the designation of funds for the salary would be a recurring payment. Skouby said it might be a possibility that the county needs help again, but that is a discussion for the future.

Deputy Coroner Amanda Sandbothe, who attended on behalf of Coroner David Martin, said Martin wanted to request a laptop for the coroner’s office with money from the MCLERF.

Skouby said they could look into it and come back to it. Heitman said he did not see why a laptop would not fall under the statute’s requirements because the coroner investigates all the deaths in the county.

The board approved one motion that included the designation of funds for $50,000 of the prosecuting attorney’s salary, the three fees for the sheriff’s office, new body armor, training for prosecutor’s office employees and a laptop for the coroner’s office.

“I appreciate you all for taking your time and being on the board,” Skouby said.

The county commissioners also thanked the board for helping the county offices.