Cape County sheriff provides office updates at Guardians of Liberty meeting

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson discussed recent jail developments during the Tuesday, Oct. 29, meeting of the Guardians of Liberty in Jackson.

Guardians of Liberty is a liberty-focused non-partisan group that regularly invites speakers to discuss political topics. Dickerson provided updates on staffing, jail construction and more to a crowd of several dozen during their 5 p.m. meeting at Delmonico’s Steakhouse in Jackson.

The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office has a budget of $17.47 million, Dickerson said, with $9 million of that in the jail budget to oversee inmates. The jail was originally built in 1979 to house some 50 inmates, expanded in 2000 to house 220 and is being expanded further to house up to 500. The inmates will be moved from the 1979 section, which she said needs several repairs, to the newest section in mid-2025.

“We’re a facility built for 220 inmates and our top population this year was 319. We were really getting crowded,” Dickerson said.

To cope with the rising inmate population, she has hired more deputies, growing from a staff of 24 when she was first elected in 2018 to 43 today. This reduces burnout, allows for better training and results in quicker response times to incidents, she said.

The prison population continues to expand, however.

Dickerson said 45% of the inmate population is suffering from mental health issues, diagnosed or undiagnosed. Jail administration had spent weeks tracking down doctors to aid them in treating this, so Dickerson hired jail navigator Heather Ressel from Community Counseling Center.

Ressel saw 963 inmates in 2023 alone and can help them acquire medication much quicker than before her hiring. The sheriff said she was looking at hiring another jail navigator to help.

Dickerson also praised Ressel for following through and connecting inmates with housing, transportation and counseling services after they are released from prison. This has led to a reduced recidivism rate of 25% to 35%, she added.

“(Ressel) has partnered with so many people to see that, when we open that door, we’re not just kicking them out,” Dickerson said.

The sheriff also told Tuesday’s audience about a tablet program for inmates wherein they receive a specially designed tablet for reading scanned mail, to reduce contraband and viewing a curated list of media.

“It is amazing to see how the inmates self-police themselves and each other because, if someone tears their tablet up, they all lose their privilege and the whole pod does not want to lose their privilege,” she said.

It also allows them to study if they choose and Dickerson said some have even received general education degrees.

“What better time that you have someone’s undivided attention to try to better someone’s life and give them an education that when they’re in jail?” she said.

Dickerson also relayed how her office has been hiring for new positions, such as drone operators, an evidence technician, entry clerks and dispatchers. She has even been able to hire a new K-9 unit named Maverick.

All told, she said, the sheriff’s office has seen clear results in the areas it patrols. Domestic violence and violent crime are both down 37% in the county outside of Cape Girardeau since 2022. Burglary is down 32% in that same time span and there have been no murders there in 2024.

After her presentation, Dickerson took questions from the assembled audience about disaster preparedness and protecting residents from crimes perpetrated by foreign nationals.