A discussion about property rights with Audrain County Sheriff Matt Oller also turned into a discussion about the issue of homelessness and transient people.

Oller was the guest speaker at the annual Audrain County Farm Bureau meeting on Thursday, Aug. 24, at the 4-H Center. The topic of property rights led to some questions from the audience about homeless people and the many rumors floating around.

One question Oller received specifically asked if he knew about a rumor that people from a homeless camp near the Bass Pro Shop in Columbia were moved out and bussed up to Mexico. Oller said he did not know of that happening but also didn’t squash the rumor.

“I’m not going to say it didn’t happen but I don’t know if it did or not,” Oller said. “But with the shape the government is in it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Oller also said he believed the encampment that was forced out ended up moving somewhere else near Columbia. Oller also said there isn’t a lack of people in town with or without someone bringing them here. He said one woman he encountered last week on the square told him she was from Oklahoma and had no ties to Mexico.

“This was just a stop along the way,” Oller said. “If you drive around the courthouse square or within five or six blocks of it through the daytime there are people lined up sitting on sidewalks.”

Oller, speaking to a room full of farmers, said it’s probably not visible now but to expect evidence of transient and homeless people showing up after harvest.

“Here in a couple of months when those crops start coming down you might find a place where people have been,” Oller said.

Oller said if someone finds people trespassing on their property to call the sheriff’s department and they will come and arrest them. However, he also told property owners to clearly mark their boundaries so there are no issues with prosecution. Oller said they’ve had to drop charges in the past because of no markings. Oller said to mark all of the property and not just roadways and driveways.

“If you don’t want them on your place they have to know where your place is or at least where their place ends,” Oller said.

Oller said it’s not just an issue with homeless people but also during hunting season when a hunter wanders off where they’re supposed to be and that’s not considered trespassing.

Oller said there are issues within the justice system that also make it harder to prosecute trespassing laws, especially with homeless and transient folks. He said after their arrest it’s a matter of writing them a ticket and sending them on their way.

“They’ll be back out in 15 minutes, maybe 20,” Oller said. “It’s not a joke anymore. We’re writing tickets to burglars, we’re writing tickets to drug dealers and letting them right back out. The justice system in the state of Missouri is absolutely on its head.”