The Polk County Sheriff's Office has made cuts to staffing and expenditures in the 2025 budget due to a lack of revenue. The Sheriff's Office will be eliminating one full-time Deputy Sheriff position, one part-time Deputy Sheriff position and one full-time Correctional Officer. These positions were currently in the process of being filled with qualified applicants, however, all interviews have been stopped because these positions are no longer available. There are significant concerns about future cuts in the Sheriff's budget and personnel if alternative funding is not secured.

 

The current 1/2-cent law enforcement sales tax is divided among the Sheriff's Office, Prosecutor's Office and Coroner's Office. The State of Missouri Juvenile Office also receives funds from the same tax. The 1/2-cent law enforcement sales tax is collected from the sales of goods by local businesses. However, the 1/2-cent law enforcement sales tax is not collected from online sales. This creates an unfair pricing advantage for large online corporations against local brick-and-mortar businesses within the county. As online sales increase, there will be less money to support your local county government.

 

The Polk County Sheriff's Office operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The PCSO has a jurisdiction of approximately 642 square miles with a population of over 30,000. In 2024, the Polk County Sheriff's Office responded to approximately 10,609 calls for service. The average call time was 1 hour and 21 minutes. The average response time was 23 minutes.

 

Some highlights of the nearly 11,000 calls responded to by the Sheriff's Office what were of a violent nature are as follows: There were 301 domestic disturbances, with 161 being physical domestic assaults and 140 being verbal domestics. This translates to nearly one domestic disturbance per day in 2024. The Sheriff's Office also responded to 209 disputes in progress that did not involve family members. In addition to those calls, there were 63 physical assaults and fights and 27 sexual assaults and sexual misconducts.

 

In 2024, the Sheriff's Office received an extremely high number of calls related to children and vulnerable adults.  There were 88 reports of missing/runaway juvenile and 20 missing adults.  The PCSO received 90 calls for suicidal subjects. There were 8 child abuse cases, 22 child endangerment cases, 2 kidnappings, 30 child custody complaints and 67 juvenile complaints.

 

Along with the 10.609 calls for service, the PCSO has several other obligations to the residents of Polk County.  The Polk County Sheriff's Office provides School Resource Officers, DARE classes, state and nationwide extraditions, sex offender registry management, civil process service, conceal and carry licensing, trailer inspections, courtroom testimony, state-mandated training, routine patrol of county roads, and business and residential security checks.

 

In 2024, the City of Humansville disbanded its police department, leaving law enforcement services solely in the hands of the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office also covers calls for service in the cities of Pleasant Hope, Fair Play and Morrisville, which have only part-time police departments.

 

The Sheriff's Office is responsible for the county jail, which houses state and municipal inmates. Booking in and out inmates, processing bonds, providing meals, providing medical services, overseeing jail housing and transporting inmates to and from court are just a few of daily tasks that must be completed. In 2024, the Sheriff's Office booked in 806 inmates. The average daily population was 35 males and 4 females.

 

The Sheriff's Office also provides extra security for community events such as the Missouri Beef Days Rodeo and Concert, Country Days, Celebration Freedom, the 4-H Fair, School carnivals and ball games.

 

While it is our passion to serve and protect the residents of Polk County, the level of service our residents have come to expect is in jeopardy of becoming unsustainable if new revenues are not secured to offset rising expenditures.

 

Sincerely,

Sheriff Danny Morrison