Livingston County Sheriff's Office

 

End of Year Report for 2019

January 24, 2020

Part I of III

 

The following report is compiled of information from the Livingston County Sheriff's Office (LCSO), Livingston County Clerk's Office, and Dispatch Office:

In 2019 the LCSO was authorized a maximum strength of the sheriff plus 8 full time road deputies and 1 full time deputy assigned to full time Courthouse security as required. We also have a part time on-call detention/transport officer who aids both our office and occasionally the Chillicothe Police with transports to jail/prison and in extraditions.

The LCSO covers approximately 539 square miles for everything from criminal and fugitive investigations, calls for service, patrol, court and civil process service, traffic accident and enforcement, public assistance, and helping various other agencies. We are also required to have an adequate number of bailiff(s) in both Associate and Circuit Court and notify and protect prospective jurors of service and trails.

 

Road Patrol:

The LCSO has a fleet of patrol vehicles which allow road deputies to have a take home car for urgent call-out. Being a small agency it is imperative for the safety of all our citizens and staff this office can quickly send most or all of our staff to a serious emergency. Most of our patrol vehicles have in-car computers being Mobile Data Terminals which permit sworn officers to work more from their vehicles and collect information, statements and even evidence while at the scene or location of interest.  We cover tens of thousands of miles yearly and in all types of weather and road conditions.

Because of many increases and requirements on this office the county commission has approved a 9th road patrol deputy position to begin in 2020. We are currently seeking applicants for our next deputy sheriff. This will permit our office will strengthen our evening and night shift with this new position which should help reduce response times, back-up assistance, overtime and other services in our county.

 

Item                            2019                2018                2017                2016                2015

Incident Reports          761                  613                  629                  603                  529     

Arrest Reports             239                  202                  179                  177                  171                 

Civil Process Served    1507                1551                1512                1342                1423               

Item                            2019                2018                2017                2016                2015

Traffic Stops                1401                1427                967                  946                  518                 

Citations                      422                  521                  233                  263                  172                 

Most significant changes from 2018 has been the number of incident reports which increased by 148 or 19.45% in one year. This is partially due to additional reporting of crime in our county and self-initiated activity by LCSO staff (for example increase in drug arrests and seizures, increase in DWI arrests for both alcohol and/or drug impaired enforcements.)

Civil Process served does not show the numbers of attempts to locate the person for service or the investigative time spent attempting to determine new address or contact information.  We may make ten attempts to serve one court paper before contact can be made.

 

Detention Division:

 

Item                            2019                2018                2017                2016                2015

           

Jail Costs:

Board of Prisoners      $489,065         $444,803         $294,725         $369,100         $457,530        

Medical Care              $14,967           $15,454           $13,398           $16,675           $17,104

Average Daily

Population (ADP)         33                    38.91               28.6                 32                    41.78  

 

Jail/boarding issues continue to remain reasonable as compared to operating our own facility. Contracting with Daviess Dekalb Regional Jail (DDRJ) in that over estimates are the current agreement between this office, County Commission and the DDRJ Board saves Livingston County Tax Payers significant money as compared to paying for and daily costs incurred with operation of a local jail. This is money our county budget cannot afford without new tax dollars and has permitted the county to minimize asking the public for additional Jail Operation funds since December 2012. This contractual agreement is also a win for Daviess and Dekalb County in that it helps in their daily operation costs and also lowers the overall burden on their tax payers.     

A primary reason our ADP for 2019 is down to 33 persons per day is due to the change in bonding requirements from the Missouri Supreme Court. An unexpected burden placed on Law Enforcement from that bonding change now requires officers to frequently chase down people multiple times who were arrested, charged, released on signature bond, allegedly violate bond conditions or fail to obey the Judge's order and then receive new warrants to pick them back up. This process is a continuous and repetitive cycle which adds to our transportation costs and reduces the amount of time we have for criminal investigations and other statutory obligations. This process can also be very frustrating for crime victims, law enforcement and the court staff.

The annual cost per prisoner per day for 2019 at DDRJ was at $45. DDRJ has worked with our office and county in many ways to help and we communicate virtually daily with the jail administration. DDRJ and the LCSO have a great working relationship.

 

Sheriff Steve Cox

(Note: Financial figures obtained from County Clerk expenditures report from 12-31-2019.)