Nixon signs bill merging patrols

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. -- Missouri's Highway Patrol and Water Patrol have become one.

Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation Wednesday that makes the state Water Patrol a division of the Highway Patrol. The governor said combining the two agencies will improve law enforcement coverage and is expected eventually to save the state about $3 million per year. He said the number of patrol officers in either agency would not be reduced.

"These are two of the finest and most responsive law enforcement agencies in the country and now, as one unified patrol force, they will be able to do an even better job," Nixon said.

The two agencies will be combined starting next year.

The governor said the merger is an example of how Missouri officials are "rethinking" the operations of state government while confronting budget problems. The governor cut about $900 million from the budget for fiscal year that ended Wednesday. For the annual budget taking effect Thursday, Nixon already has trimmed about $300 million in state general revenue expenses.

Some local law officers have expressed fears that more duties could get passed to local sheriffs as a result of the state patrol merger. The sheriff's department in Camden County -- which borders much of the Lake of the Ozarks -- has said it already is struggling to keep officers on the road and does not have the capacity to respond to emergencies on the water.

The legislation also allows state lawmakers to get their own keys to the Capitol dome, which is an exclusive tourist site that is closed to the general public. Lawmakers currently can borrow one of a limited number of keys to take guests to the dome.

Governors twice have vetoed bills granting dome keys to lawmakers. But this year Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, inserted the provision into numerous bills to try to ensure one of them would be signed into law.