Scott Co. silent on former sheriff's felony charges

BENTON, Mo. -- In Scott County, the silence concerning the charges filed last week against former sheriff Bill Ferrell is deafening.

At the County Seat Cafe, on the courthouse square where the sheriff worked for 28 years, no one wants to talk about Ferrell and the felony stealing indictment a grand jury presented on him Friday.

Old, young, blue collar, white collar -- the diners all say "no comment."

Some work for the county government and worry about trouble that could be caused for them by their comments, others say they're not informed, others say they're too close to Ferrell.

Next door at Yvonne's, the story is the same. Down the road at Ziegler's Drive-In, the same. In Scott City at Berghoff's Cafe, the same.

It seems no one wants to talk about Bill Ferrell, least of all the members of the county commission, or Ferrell himself.

Few details have come forward on the Ferrell case since the grand jury presented its indictment Friday. The only details so far are that Ferrell is charged with stealing money from the county DARE fund, a fund he said last October was his money in the first place. Ferrell also said in October that he had no DARE officer for the majority of his time in office.

Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger has been named as a witness for the state in Ferrell's upcoming trial. Given his involvement with the proceedings, Burger doesn't want to comment on the matter. But of all the members of the county commission, he's most familiar with Ferrell in a county government relationship, having served on the commission for four years while Ferrell was sheriff.

Former presiding commissioner Martin Priggel doesn't want to talk, preferring not to comment since he's another of the state's many witnesses.

As for his opinion why many county citizens remain silent on the issue: "Maybe it's because they're not very knowledgeable about what happened."

Calls to the special prosecutor appointed to the case, St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCullouch, were not returned Tuesday. Details as to how much money Ferrell is accused of stealing from the fund have not yet been released.

Over the years in Scott County, Ferrell had many public battles with county commissioners over money issues in several funds he oversaw. Commissioners clashed with Ferrell starting in early 1978 over the use of personal vehicles for county business, and the subsequent collection of mileage reimbursements. And Ferrell's handling of the finances he had control over brought negative attention in many audits over the years, but he was never charged with a crime until Friday.

At the same time, Ferrell was honored over and over by citizens and organizations in Scott County. The Sikeston Chamber of Commerce named him Man of the Year in 1983. In 1981 he was master of ceremonies for the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, also in his hometown of Sikeston.

Sikeston Mayor Mike Marshall, who calls Ferrell a friend, wonders why the former sheriff is being prosecuted now, after he has left office, and in such a public manner.

"This is something that probably could have been handled on a lower key," said Marshall, who wonders why some action couldn't have been taken earlier working with the state auditor's office, which wrote the report of its 2006 audit that addressed the DARE fund.

Marshall said he hasn't heard much talk about the issue in Sikeston, but he's purposefully tried to avoid hearing such talk. Marshall said some people support Ferrell, others don't.

"He was sheriff for many, many years, and he was very popular," Marshall said. "His is one of the pioneer families of this town, and this is kind of tough."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182