Two major changes to Missouri's criminal justice system have made it harder for, in some cases, sheriff's departments and prosecuting attorneys to do their jobs, Audrain County Sheriff Matt Oller and Audrain County Prosecuting Attorney Jacob Shellabarger said at a Jan. 3 meeting of the Audrain County Farm Bureau. They also celebrated some positive news for both the department and the court.

The first change affects county jails more so than it does the courts. The Missouri Supreme Court in March issued an opinion which affects how boarding bills are charged to inmates of county jails. The boarding bill previously would be included as part of court costs in criminal cases. The Supreme Court overturned rulings by circuit courts in St. Clair and Lafayette counties relating to board bills and court costs. The decision found that circuit courts do not have the statutory authority to collect county jail boarding bills as court costs. They must be separate bills.

"It severely altered the way counties are paid board bills for boarding inmates," Oller said.

The case analysis by the Supreme Court found state statutes make a distinction between delinquent court costs and board bills, and there is a state entity that can start collection proceedings for delinquent boarding costs — the state's court administrator.

"We've had to work out some reasonable solution, which left it on each individual sheriff and the county to collect those board bills. Quite honestly, [the sheriff's department has] never collected money. We are not a money collecting agency," Oller said.

The other decision by the Supreme Court also reformed county jail bond rules. A person arrested and charged with a misdemeanor or felony as of July 1 must be released with a summons, rather than being held at the jail or released on a bail bond. The only reason a person would remain in custody is if the court makes a case the defendant would not appear on the summons or is a danger to the crime victim, community or any other person.

"It goes by a couple different terms, bond reform or catch-and-release," Oller said. "We're arresting burglars, taking them to jail, taking their picture, taking their fingerprints, writing them a ticket and then sending them right back out the door."

The catch-and-release rules have become nightmarish for the community, Oller said. "It's really doing nothing good for our communities. We're hoping that the legislature will come along with something reasonable at some point," he said.

The Legislature has the power to address bond reform, but at this point there are no plans, Shellabarger said. The Supreme Court also offered guidance on how a circuit court can consider holding a defendant in jail.

"You can consider how dangerous they are, which is largely the biggest part of it," he said.

What the courts cannot consider is how many open cases that person already has.

"The main thing [the Supreme Court] has said with criminal justice reform is that it shouldn't matter how much money you have, whether you stay in custody or not. You can't use money anymore," Shellabarger said.

The bond was a way to ensure a defendant would show up in court and that the person would not commit further crimes, he added.

"The [Supreme Court] doesn't really have a good definition of what dangerous is, because it largely changes. They are considered crimes against persons. A burglary is not considered to be a person crime in the state," Shellabarger.

Under court rules, a person is not considered dangerous, even if they have committed multiple burglaries, or other cases such as driving while intoxicated, traffic violations, trespass, other property crimes and drug crimes.

"Part of the issue we're starting to see in Audrain County is a rise in repeat offender crimes," Shellabarger said. "A lot of those defendants, the only time they're going to be sober is when they're in Sheriff Oller's jail. If they're not allowed the opportunity to get a hard look at what faces them in their future, they don't have an opportunity, incentive or reason to change their behavior."

Audrain County’s drug court system is still operating well, though, and has expanded over the last five years, Shellabarger said. Defendants in the drug court program are not dealers or violent criminals, but might have committed burglaries or other property crimes.

"They are the ones that are restored to sobriety and being productive. The main thing we tell them from the beginning is, 'Tell the truth, be where you're supposed to be and be prepared to change the people, places and things in your life.' It really means a lot to see changed lives once we break the cycle of addiction," Shellabarger said.

The Audrain County Jail project is all but finished Oller said. The project was fairly smooth, and the Sheriff's Department and the jail were able to operate $270,000 under budget without service reductions in 2019, he said.

"We really try to be conscious of what is going on,” Oller said. “We're not flush with cash, but we're not starving to death, either, and I certainly don't want to do anything to damage the financial situation of the county.”

cdunlap@gatehousemedia.com