Butler County sheriff chosen to represent zone

Butler County, Missouri, Sheriff Mark Dobbs will be taking a more active role in law-enforcement-related legislative issues since he recently was chosen to represent one of the Missouri Sheriffs' Association's zones.

"This year at the annual meeting, like every year, the various sheriffs within each zone of the state have to choose a zone leader for the year," Dobbs said. "Apparently, that choice was me."

Dobbs will represent Zone 16, which comprises the sheriffs in Ripley, Stoddard, Dunklin, Butler, New Madrid, Pemiscot and Mississippi counties in Missouri. He replaces Mississippi County Sheriff Keith Moore.

Much of the work will be done by conference calls, so "it won't take time away from my responsibilities here at the sheriff's department," he said.

Dobbs said in times such as those seen recently in Ferguson, Missouri, "it's important that the sheriffs of the state are represented well in Jefferson City."

One of the key issues the sheriffs' association hopes to address in the coming year concerns deputy salaries.

"There is a supplemental fund to supplement deputy sheriffs' income throughout the state that is a $10 surcharge on several process services," Dobbs said. "Presently, private process services can circumvent that fee, and it goes uncollected."

Rural Missouri counties, including Ripley, Carter and Wayne, rely on the salary supplement, Dobbs said, adding sheriff's pay also will be on the table.

"What we're targeting is the sheriffs in the smaller counties that are still being paid in the $20,000 range," he said.

In addition to the "very low pay," Dobbs said, the smaller counties also normally don't offer any benefits.