Last week, I sat down with Sheriff Danny Boyd to talk about his next four years.
It was unlike any law enforcement interview I’ve done before for one major reason — location.
The new Barry County Sheriff’s Office administrative offices and jail are all bound into one now, providing a pristine and modern facade to the department, especially with the adjacent Barry County Health Department building.
Ground broke on those facilities two years ago, and as I drove into the parking lot, I could still roughly make out where those first sets of shovels turned dirt. The Sheriff’s Office’s new facility, a $17 million structure, is 30,000 square feet, nearly doubling the department’s size.
The safety features it provides as far as the jail are second to none. I have written about them in previous columns, but things like a sally port, entirely indoor recreation yard and much greater pod control — like the ability to lock cell doors — should provide new jail staff with all the tools necessary to run the county jail effectively.
The Sheriff’s Office will also benefit from its office upgrades, with things like the new training room giving greater ability for hosting educational opportunities and the new evidence locker operating with higher standards.
The structure is being paid for by the county with a loan, funding for which is available now with the half-cent law enforcement sales tax opening up general fund dollars previously going to law enforcement. Those funds, plus the county’s reserves, put financing at 10 years, but the county is confident it can clear the final check even sooner.
In conjunction with the Sheriff’s Office and jail groundbreaking was a shovel for the new Health Department, a $5 million structure paid for entirely by American Rescue Plan Act funds.
This new complex on the west side of town should be a point of pride for Barry County. It’s not often $22 million in capital projects occur, and the commission should be commended for getting it done.
In the Sheriff’s Office’s case, their hands were forced partially because of the state of the old jail; however, the county would not have been in a position to do so if not for its conservative spending in the last decade-plus, as well as the passing of the law enforcement sales tax.
In regard to the Health Department, the commission showed some savvy in taking an opportunity and running with it. Also doubling in size, that new facility will do very well to serve the 13,500 individuals it does annually. And, it will look good doing it.
It was in a new conference room that I spoke to Boyd, and the pride in the new building was reflected in the Sheriff’s optimism in a new term. The first point he made regarding goals was the effort to be more transparent.
A big immediate step toward that will be the jail roster going back online this upcoming Monday. Inmates have been accepted since Jan. 6, and the public frequently uses the roster as a resource to inform themselves and one another.
Boyd also pointed to giving more information about why a person is released when that occurs. I’m very interested to see how that will work.
Beyond transparency, another eye will be on performance, especially in harder hit areas. If the Sheriff’s Office — now fully staffed and running four patrol cars at a time — makes headway on drug issues in Eagle Rock and the amount of property crimes in the area, that should be reflected in arrests and charges.
If that does occur, it will also be up to the court system to keep criminals — especially the frequent offenders — either in jail or convinced another repeat offense would not be wise.
I think it will be multiple years before we see any real progress there, but the sooner the better.
In the meantime, it is a positive note that the jail is fully staffed for the first time in a long time, and the opportunity for issues we’ve seen in recent years, like breakouts, are virtually impossible.
With the new facility, the full staff and four years to make a mark, Boyd is in a position now to get the Office ahead and police proactively versus reactively.
We wish him the best and hope to report progress in years to come.
Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a two-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847 2610 or ktroutman@cassville- democrat.com.
