Missouri sheriffs underline limited legislative priorities
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Missouri sheriffs are advocating for the state legislature to address their priorities which include tightening Missouri sentencing laws.
Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett said the Missouri Sheriffs Association has been pushing for “Truth in Sentencing” laws also referred to as “Clarity in Sentencing” which allows for individuals to serve longer prison sentences.
“When nonviolent felons are doing 30 days on a year, that’s not what the judge had sentenced them to and that’s not fair to the victims and it’s also putting those individuals back out into the community very quickly,” said Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett.
The association is aiming for non-violent offenders to serve at least 75% of their sentence and violent offenders to serve at least 85%.
Sheriff Puett says they have been pushing for Clarity in Sentencing for the last three to four years because it’s disheartening to explain to victims why an offender is out on release earlier than they should be.
“It’s not uncommon for someone to call us and say, ‘Hey, I thought the guy or girl who committed this crime went to prison’ and they did but they’re already released,” Puett said. “If they’re held accountable for those offenses and locked up for a longer period, then maybe they’ll realize that they shouldn’t be committing these acts.”
The Missouri Sheriffs Association also hopes lawmakers will revisit another issue this session, Amendment Six, which would have funded the retirement pension for Missouri sheriffs. Citizens voted no on Amendment Six during the November General Election.
Without the funding, Sheriff Puett says it takes away the incentive for people to decide to work for the county sheriff.
“The ability to get people interested in stepping into this role in any county in the state will be significantly impacted,” Puett said. “There’s long hours and all kinds of risks that go along with this job and at some point, you ought to be able to look forward to retirement once you’re ready to enjoy your golden years.”
The Missouri Sheriff’s Association would also like the office of county sheriff to be deemed as a constitutional office.
“Right now, some legislative efforts are being discussed to do a constitutional amendment codifying a sheriff in the Constitution as a constitutional office that can’t be removed by the legislature,” Puett said. “We hope it will be successful and we’ll have everyone’s support going forward in 2026 to put the sheriff in the Missouri Constitution.”
