NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH FUNDS COME UNDER FIRE

(First of two parts)

MARBLE HILL Using county tax dollars to fund three "neighborhood watch" programs in Bollinger County is coming under fire by members of a committee who contend the practice is illegal.

The watch programs, operating in Zalma, Grassy and Sedgewickville, each receive $2,000 annually from the county, according to county records.

Members of the Bollinger County Sheriff's Advisory Committee want the money allocated instead to the sheriff's department to help pay the salary of a third deputy.

"We feel a third deputy would be more beneficial to all citizens of the county than the neighborhood watches are," said committee member Ernest Darr. "We're not trying to fight the neighborhood watch, we just feel the money could be spent better."

In late September, the committee sought the advice of a Cape Girardeau attorney on the matter. In a letter to Sheriff Dan Mesey, the attorney, John Cook of Thomasson, Dickerson, Gilbert & Cook, said the funding of "private crime watch associations" violates Missouri law.

"In our opinion," the letter states, "Section 25 (of the Missouri constitution) clearly prohibits the expenditure of public funds for the benefit of a private association no matter how worthy the aims of that association may be."

The neighborhood watches in Sedgewickville and Zalma have received monthly checks from the county since early 1990. The watch in Grassy has been funded since January, county records show.

The issue of using county money to fund the neighborhood watch organizations first surfaced in 1988 a year before county voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase when county commissioners Jerry Woodfin and Junior Cook issued a statement saying that some of the funds from the tax increase would go to the groups.

"We feel the county commissioners are giving public funds to a private organization," Darr said. "And at the same time, they're saying they don't have the money to hire a third deputy."

Darr said the committee wants the county to stop funding the watch programs, and use the $6,000 to help pay for a deputy's salary, which is slightly more than $10,000 per year.

Another committee member, Marshall Stroder, said private contributions should fund the neighborhood watches.

"When the watches were formed, they were supposed to be on a volunteer basis," said Stroder, a former county commissioner.

Woodfin said no one previously questioned the legality of earmarking county funds for the neighborhood watch programs, including when the state audited the county in 1990.

"We did it to help law enforcement in the county," the commissioner said. "No one's ever told us it was wrong before."

Woodfin said he is aware of the need for a third deputy for the sheriff's department. But he said he doesn't favor taking the money away from the neighborhood watch programs, which were promised funding at the start of the year.

"I want to be fair," he said. "I realize we need a good sheriff's department, but I still think the watch programs were set up for a good cause."

The treasurer of the Grassy organization, Wanda Francis, said the organization receives a $166 check each month from the county. Francis said that prior to May, the money was used to pay mileage expenses of a special deputy.

But the town has not had the officer since May, when the sheriff's department reduced the number of special deputies because it couldn't afford to insure them.

Francis said the Grassy organization has about 170 members, all of whom pay $10 annual membership fees. The organization also holds fundraisers, she said, and currently has about $7,000 in its bank account.

Francis said the watch could "probably get by" without county funds, but, she said, "I think it's been helpful.

"We'd like to build a helicopter pad and a fire substation in Grassy," she said. "And there has been a lot of interest in (the neighborhood watch) here. It's really drawn our community together."

Harlan Tuschoff, treasurer of the Sedgewickville neighborhood watch, said annual membership dues are $5 for about 90 members in his organization. The group also receives a monthly check from the county of $166.66.

He said the organization currently has between $1,500 and $2,000 in its bank account.

Tuschoff said money from the county helped establish the organization. He also said that until May, the major expense of the organization was paying mileage and insurance for the special deputy.

Since then, members of the organization have considered funding a school drug-prevention program and buying a bullet-proof vest for the sheriff's department, Tuschoff said.

"If we can help the sheriff's department, we surely will," he added.

Bollinger County Presiding Commissioner Elwood Mouser refused to comment when asked about the funding of the neighborhood watch programs.

Mesey, the sheriff, said he is not against the neighborhood watch programs, but feels a third deputy is needed more.

He said that with only three county law enforcement officers, "we haven't had a day off since May."

The sheriff's department consists of the sheriff and two deputies. According to Mesey, deputies receive an annual salary of $10,500, plus overtime pay. Mesey's salary is $21,550, according to county records. The sheriff said he doesn't receive overtime pay.