Bringing Transparency to LCSO

As we work towards building a stronger partnership with our community, the Linn County Sheriff's Office would like to share some of the things we are working on and some of the hardships we face so that we can help offer some transparency and understanding in how our office works.

The biggest issue we face today is the perception of some that it is an "US against THEM" situation. While there will always be those few that wish to cast a poor light on things or fail to uphold their duties, we have continued to work on bringing in new staff that are in line with our goal of enhancing the quality of life for all members of the community by providing exceptional law enforcement services. Our main purpose is to be there for the community, and we cannot do that when we do not have the support of the community. Therefore, our main goal in everything that we do is to better our office and build a strong working relationship with the community.

Another way that we are working to improve the impression those in the community have of our office and to improve the level of law enforcement services is by increasing training. We are constantly looking for new training opportunities and strive to provide every opportunity for staff to attend training. We do have to consider shift coverage and budget limitations when looking at this, so it does take time to get everyone through. In addition to the 24 hours of POST required annual training, some of the training courses we are working to get all LCSO staff through are CIT, ARIDE, active shooter situations, drug awareness and recognition training, professional development, situational awareness, and many others.

Attending training helps in many ways. For example, while our deputies strive to ensure the safety of those on the road by removing impaired drivers, we also want to ensure that they are doing their jobs correctly and not just working to increase their statistical numbers which do not consider convictions. It is true that there are times when, even though the tickets are issued, the person is not convicted. This can be due to numerous reasons but each time it causes unnecessary hardships on the county especially financially and allows those who are more likely to drink and drive another opportunity to do just that without consequences. To help correct this issue we have made training courses such as ARIDE a priority for those deputies working evening shifts and who are more likely to issue those types of citations. Sergeant Walton attended ARIDE training in February 2024.

Some other areas we have strengthened with training is in registering sex offenders, budgeting, working with individuals with mental illnesses and equipment maintenance. Our Sergeant attended CIT training in 2022 and Deputy Nelson attended Glock armorer training in April 2024. Ms. Rodenberg attends annual conferences and has attended numerous trainings over the last three years provided by the Missouri Sheriff's Association, Missouri Highway Patrol, FBI, US Marshals, and the US Department of Justice specializing in sex offender registration. She has also attended annual trainings specializing in county sheriff's office and jail budgeting. With the information gained from training, LCSO created a new division, the Sex Offender Registration and Enforcement Unit, and has completely updated their tracking system where offenders required to register are held more accountable.  While we are improving, we know that we still have more work to do.

Click on the picture above to view more information on sex offender registrations.

 

The Sheriff's Office requires one of the biggest budgets in the county. We are constantly looking into ways to help alleviate this hardship for taxpayers. One way is by creating a new system to collect on board bills. The Missouri Incarceration Reimbursement Act states that those incarcerated are responsible for the costs incurred during their stay, including medical and transportation expenses. This has been an area of revenue that was not always utilized in the past. Currently Linn County spends approximately $17,715 per inmate per year. That includes jail boarding expenses, fuel expenses for traveling, and medical expenses. Overall, Linn County spends an average total of $232,952 annually for all inmates. Our office is working hard on getting some of this revenue back to the county. In addition, thanks to various training courses and our staff diligently researching these topics, we have also begun to generate revenue that is authorized by Missouri statutes such as fees for fingerprints, report requests, concealed carry permits, etc.

Click on the picture above to see the various services and the associated fees.

 

Staffing has continued to be an issue with our office for many reasons. We know that the community would like to see more deputies on patrol, and we are working hard to make this happen. Currently we are restricted due to budgetary limitations. Our hope is that we can bring more revenue back into the county with the board bills, etc. and this will allow us a larger budget in the future when considering staffing needs. We ask that the community keep in mind that we are constantly working on these things and trying to improve.

We hope that this has helped bring some transparency to our office so that the community is more aware of what is occurring with LCSO.

As always, anyone that has questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to our office.

 

Click HERE to submit a complaint to LCSO Executive Staff.

 

Click HERE to submit a compliment to LCSO Executive Staff.

 

Click HERE to contact LCSO for general inquires.

 

Click HERE to see Employment Opportunities.