The Citizens for Justice — Barry County held its third community meeting on Feb. 1, discussing everything from neighborhood watch programs to crime trends and the upcoming sheriff election.
Local resident Donnie Stumpff led the meeting again, promoting the group’s Facebook page as a resource for reporting incidents and aggregating information.
“We have the Citizens for Justice page, and if people send us videos of people on their property, we will post them,” he said. “That’s worked really well, and police have been able to make some arrests. People have been more attentive and are sending things to me. And, the more criminals know we are watching them and have them on video, the less likely they are to keep doing it. We may not catch them all, but maybe we can push them somewhere else.”
Arrests were made in two instances stemming from the page, including individuals breaking into soda machines and a man videoed on a game camera allegedly stealing a win- dow. Though the arrest in the first instance resulted in a short jail hold and release, the person accused of stealing the window, Jeremy Ogle, 46, of Golden, remains in jail on a $15,000 bond.
“We had video footage of two individuals we turned into law enforcement, and they were arrested the next morning,” Stumpff said. “Two weeks later, it happened again and we had more footage, and that time, they caught them in 45 minutes.”
Stumpff said Citizens for Justice is still working on building neighborhood watch programs throughout the county, and seeing some success.
“We have one in Eagle Rock, and we’re looking for people in Shell Knob and Golden,” he said. “After that, we will work toward Exeter and Wheaton. We also have some other areas where we get calls and texts.”
After that, Stumpff said, the direction of the group’s efforts is in the air.
“We just want to bring awareness to the community, and if some can start neighborhood watch groups on their own, I’d be tickled to death because that would relieve me a bit.”
Talk of steady crime between Exeter and Wheaton also received mention at the meeting.
“I know some people who were robbed this week, and there was an older couple I know who had people knocking on their doors and windows in Exeter,” Stumpff said. “They had a shotgun ready and were scared to death. I’m afraid some good people are going to do some harmful things.” Clint Danforth, Wheaton Police chief, attended the meeting and mentioned a mutual aid call with Exeter for a home invasion, as well, with a suspect being arrested but since released.
Two elected officials attended the meeting, Barry County Northern Commissioner Gary Schad and Presiding Commissioner Steve Blankenship. Schad defended what work the Barry County Sheriff’s Office is doing in the county, adding that with a new budget, more staff is coming.
“We’ve taken a lot of heat for not doing enough, and I stand for what we are doing in the county,” he said. “Deputies got a 4 percent [cost of living] raise, and starting pay is now at $46,000, which is within $2,000 of Monett. We are right there. We will get fully staffed because the money is there. We have two in the academy we are paying for, requiring a three-year contract when they graduate. And, we have the potential to put five more through the academy.”
Following the watch group and crime discussions, Stumpff opened the floor to two declared candidates for Barry County sheriff running against incumbent Danny Boyd, likely in the August primary.
Mike McGuire, currently at the Cassville Police Department, and Randy Kalbaugh, currently at the Stone County Sheriff’s Office, each had time to discuss their backgrounds and plans, as well as answer questions from the gathered crowd.
Filing for county positions this year open Feb. 27 and close on March 26. Open positions include: Sheriff, northern commissioner, southern commissioner, assessor, coroner and public administrator.
Positions up for election in 2026 include: Presiding commissioner, prosecutor, clerk, collector and recorder.
