Mixing business and law

BENTON, Mo. --After his election in November 2004, Rick Walter didn't waste any time getting to work as Scott County sheriff.

Bill Ferrell, who had been sheriff for 28 years, left office on Dec. 31, 2004. That night Walter was ready to assume his post, entering his new domain at the stroke of midnight.

That would come to represent his hands-on style of management.

"I like to be a working sheriff. I like being involved in some of the cases the department is working on," said Walter, a little more than a year after he assumed his post. "It doesn't allow me a lot of time to politic, but I'm not a politician. The people elected me to do a job, and that's what I'm doing."

If Walter isn't a politician, he is a mix of business manager and law enforcement official. When he ran for office, Walter touted his experience as a project coordinator for a local construction company, along with his passion for law enforcement -- a passion he's had since 1987.

So far it seems that Walter has put his business acumen to good use. For 2005, Walter said he created a more efficient department, coming in about $160,000 under a $2 million budget, according to his figures.

His philosophy -- using taxpayer money as efficiently as possible.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter, left, talked with Scott County emergency management director Joe Burton, center, and 911 supervisor Roger Manwaring Thursday at the Scott County Jail. (Fred Lynch)

"They want the best bang for their buck, and that's what we're doing now," Walter said.

Part of that bang comes from new fees, Walter said. Fees paid to the county coffers for things like boarding of Sikeston's prisoners, serving of papers, payment by inmates to use the jail phone, mileage paid for using department vehicles and fees for transporting mental patients have put about $96,300 into county revenue that wasn't there before, Walter said.

Ferrell disputes some of those claims. He said he doesn't have any contact with the department directly but has read about Walter's policies through media accounts.

"Fees for the transportation of mental patients always went to the county, and fees for serving papers always went to the county, too," Ferrell said.

As for the mileage, Ferrell said he did collect those fees because his personal vehicles were being used.

Not only did Ferrell use his own vehicles, but Walter said the former sheriff's name was on everything -- including cars and uniforms -- when he took office. Walter immediately restriped cars and replaced uniforms when he came into office.

County commissioners don't want to talk about the fees in order to stay out of a verbal skirmish between the old and new regimes. However, they do say that Walter is a bit more diplomatic than his predecessor.

"We have a better dialogue than we had in the past," said Commissioner Jamie Burger. "In the past when we had disagreements, it never could come to a resolution. Someone who had the ultimate authority to make a decision would just step in and do it their way.

"With Sheriff Walter, when we have a difference of opinion ... we come to a compromise."

Walter also changed the way the department does business by contracting out food and commissary services and health care in the jail. His business-oriented mind told him that the less liability the county has, the better. Now if an inmate gets bad food or poor medical treatment and wants to sue, the county won't be the defendant.

Thousands of calls

But business practices aren't the only thing Walter has changed. One of his first moves as sheriff was to start a 24-hour patrol for the first time in county history.

In May, the new practice helped catch an alleged serial burglar who was operating in the Morley, Chaffee and Oran areas between 1 and 5 a.m., when deputies used to be at home sleeping.

In 2004, the department handled 972 calls for service. In 2005, the number was 4,669.

Walter also established the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team, designed to work with other departments in the county to serve search warrants in dangerous situations like suspected meth labs.

Not everyone in the sheriff's department looked forward to working with Walter -- Ferrell was popular among many employees, and some criticized the new sheriff for firing longtime employees when he took office.

Walter said he kept all but three people on. Two didn't ask to stay on and one took a better job at another department, he said.

One of those Walter said didn't ask for a job was Capt. Brenda Schiwitz.

A 30-year veteran, Schiwitz said she was let go when Walter came into office, with the reason being that she wasn't qualified, even though Walter said no one would lose a job. Schiwitz, who had worked with Walter while he was a reserve officer at the department, said she wasn't given severance pay.Walter said he eliminated the captain rank at the department, but that he offered other jobs to keep the three captains on. One of them, not Schiwitz, refused to be anything other than a captain, he said.

Not all of Walter's goals have been met. One of the priorities he ran on was financing costs for the county's new jail, built in 2000, through housing federal prisoners. Walter said the opportunities that he once thought existed now don't.

Having already taken care of most of his campaign priorities, Walter's main goal now is to pursue drug offenders.

"We're going to do our best to run them out of this county," Walter said.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182