Christian County sheriff annoyed with budget cuts

OZARK, Mo. -- Christian County Sheriff Joey Matlock said budget cuts imposed by the county forced him to lay off nine jailers and institute other reductions that will jeopardize law enforcement service.

County commissioners respond that Matlock's department has to share the budget pain with the rest of the county, especially since the department gets the most county funds.

The disagreement comes a year after Christian County opened its new jail and hired several people to run it.

County commissioners told Matlock on Thursday he would be getting about $2.4 million, compared to the $2.6 million the department received last year.

Matlock said the news was "totally unexpected" and a "complete slap in the face."

Commissioners said the budget problems were caused by flat sales tax revenue. And the county is having to pay for new services because it was reclassified from a third-class county to a second-class county.

That new status, which was required by the state, forces the county to pay nearly $100,000 for an auditor's office and $45,000 for a recorder of deeds. The state also has lowered reimbursements in several areas.

Matlock said he is not angry with commissioners, but he does feel they have mistreated his department and his employees. He said no other department was hit as hard as the sheriff's department, which provides law enforcement for the fastest growing county in the state.

But Commissioner Tom Chudomelka noted that from 1999 to 2002, the sheriff's department budget increased by 81 percent.

"It's hard for them to realize this, but we gave them about everything they asked for in the last few years. ... You look back and say, 'If we hadn't given him so much we'd be all right now,'" Chudomelka said. "But we had it. He said he needed it. And we gave it to him."

The cuts will reduce the number of jailers on duty at a time at the new 106-bed facility to five from seven. Also, one of the 14 full-time deputies will be assigned to the jail full-time, leaving only 13 deputies for the streets.

Deputies already have handed in their pagers and many of them also are being asked to hand in their mobile phones. That means deputies will sometimes not be able to communicate when they are on some rural roads.

Other groups, including officers with municipal police departments inside the county, are waiting to see what happens.

"What effects it will have, I would hate to speculate," said Nixa police chief Bruce Belin. "I'm concerned any time county law enforcement is cut."