Ripley County sheriff resigns for health reasons

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- On the advice of his doctors, Mike Cochran informed the Ripley County Commission last week of his intention to step down as sheriff.

"I am going to resign officially between now and the end of the year," explained Cochran, who has served as sheriff for six years. "I don't have an exact date picked." Cochran said he met with the county commission Wednesday and "verbally told them I would be gone by the end of the year.

"Nothing is in writing. ... I didn't just want to drop it in their laps" with two or three weeks notice. "I wanted to let them know it was coming and give them time to prepare for the changes coming down the road." Cochran said he wanted to give the commissioners "as much time as possible for them to decide what they are going to do." Not only will the commission have to appoint an interim sheriff, a special election will also have to be held to elect a new one, Cochran said.

Avoiding two elections

"I think they are probably looking at an election date and trying to coincide it with the presidential primary" in March, which is a statewide election versus a special election only, Cochran explained.

"In fact, I am staying on a little longer than I had planned so they do not have to have two elections back to back," Cochran said. "It will be a savings of several thousands of dollars to the county if we don't have to have two elections." Cochran said his doctors told that he needed to quit in March.

"I've just kind of been putting it off in order to get a few more things done," Cochran explained. "... I've been a little stubborn and hardheaded. Being sheriff of Ripley County is something I've always wanted to do.

"I've paid my dues and worked my way up to this job. Now that it's here, it's hard to walk away from it, but I'm going to have to." Cochran said the decision to step down was not an easy one to make. "It's not something I want to do at all, but I have to," he said.

The commissioners, as well as those on his staff were "a little shocked" at his announcement, said Cochran, who has been a public servant for 36 years.

Before he leaves, Cochran said, there are still some things he hopes to accomplish, including overseeing the implementation of concealed carry permits.

"I want to see it get off the ground," Cochran explained. "It's a little bit complicated.

"There are lots of questions and answers still about it. Myself and my office manager attended a meeting Wednesday in Poplar Bluff.

"All the sheriffs from the Bootheel and Southeast Missouri participated in a conference call with Jefferson City and the Sheriffs' Association so that everybody is doing the same thing statewide on the guns."

Cochran said he has an "excellent" chief deputy in Adam Whittom.

"I've been training him for the last couple of years," said Cochran, who described the last six years as going quickly. "I've been letting him do a lot of the administrative things so he can learn.

"He knows the ropes," Cochran said.

Cochran said he feels like the department is "running well with the resources we have. Hopefully there won't be any major changes." During his tenure, Cochran said, he has had an "excellent working relationship" with the other law enforcement agencies in the area, as well as the county commission.

"There haven't been any major problems that couldn't be solved," Cochran said. "Money will always be tight.

"The Ripley County Sheriff's Department probably should be a 10-man department, but it will always be a four- or five-man department because of money." Cochran said he doesn't foresee a "big influx of money" coming into Ripley County.

"That's a stressful life on the sheriff and the employees," Cochran said. "We really have lots and lots of times where we have more than we can keep up with.

"We do the best we can with what we've got."