Bates County has a population of approximately 17,000 people of which approximately 6000 live within a municipality that provides 24 hour police services. Bates County is the 6th largest county land mass wise. Our primary source of income in Bates County is agriculture related industry.
The Sheriff’s Office employs approximately 70 employees with almost 95% of them either being from Bates County or currently live in Bates County. The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for servicing the courts through courtroom duties, civil and criminal process, and courthouse security.
The Sheriff’s Office also has primary duties of proactively patrolling the highways and gravel roads within the county, running and maintaining a 200 bed jail, responding to calls for service, criminal investigations, narcotics investigations, community oriented policing programs and providing assistance to other law enforcement agencies, fire departments and EMS.
The Sheriff’s Office has multiple divisions within the Office to perform many functions for the Citizens of Bates County.
The first division is the Court Operations Division. This division is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the employees and visitors while they are conducting business at the courthouse. They provide court bailiffs during the various court proceedings including criminal court, civil court, juvenile court, and family court.
The second division is the Jail Operations Division. This division is responsible for the complex operation of the state of the art 200 bed jail. This includes maintaining a safe and secure building, providing legally obligated needs of the inmates, medical care within the jail, food services and laundry services. This also includes transportation of inmates to and from court in the 27th District Court of Bates County and transportation of inmates to and from the United States Federal Courts in the Western District of Missouri. They also provide extradition to return criminals who have fled throughout the United States to avoid prosecution.
The Third Division is the 911 Communications Division. This division is responsible for dispatching all 911 calls received to the appropriate agencies. The Communications Division is the primary dispatch center for all of rural Bates County for police services and for the Sheriff’s Office.
They are directly responsible for dispatching deputies for calls for services along with being the primary dispatch center for the City of Adrian and their emergency services to include the Police Department, City and Rural Fire Departments, Hume Fire Department and Rockville Fire Departments. The Bates County Communications Center is the backup dispatch center for the City of Butler should they have the need.
The Communications center also transfers all medical calls for service to the Bates County Memorial Hospital Dispatch and then works with them to dispatch the appropriate first responder agencies.
The Fourth Division is the Patrol Division. The Patrol Division’s primary function is to proactively patrol the county, answer calls for service, and serve civil process papers. This division has multiple subdivisions; Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team, Narcotics, Criminal Investigations, Crisis Negotiations Team, K9 Unit, School Resource Deputies, Patrol, Civil Process, Mounted Patrol/Search and Rescue. The patrol division is often tasked with covering for municipal police departments when they are short staffed and have no officers on duty.
The last Division is the all volunteer Sheriff’s Posse. The Sheriff’s Posse’s primary duties are to supplement personnel for the Sheriff’s Office during times when the need arises. These events include search and rescue and deploying assets to natural disasters here in Bates County and beyond when requested. The Posse has equipment to deploy to include a drone, UTVs, ATVs, and multiple mounted horse units. The Sheriff’s Posse is prepared to support the operations of the Sheriff’s Office in any manner requested.
The Sheriff’s Office had a 2022 Budget of $6,114,175.00. The Sheriff’s Office ended the year 20% under budget. 2022 brought various new programs to the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff, working with the schools in unincorporated areas, began the School Resource Deputy Program allocating two deputies (one position to be filled) to rotate between the 6 schools. The Sheriff’s Office expanded its Community Policing Program to sponsoring youth programs that encourage activities for youth that build character, provide activities that promote healthy decisions vs drug use and crime and to continue the culture lifestyle of rural America like farming and livestock. The financial support is intended to help with entry fees or program fees to help make these programs available to the kids who otherwise could not afford to participate. The following are the programs that benefited from financial support from the Sheriff’s Office;
Adrian Youth Soccer Club
Bates County Children’s Center
Butler Cub Scout Pack 4237
Adrian Little League Baseball
Aqua Bears Swim Team
Rich Hill Summer Ball Association
Explosion Basketball
Butler Bandits Travel Softball
Adrian Little League Football
Hume Fair Association
Butler Wrestling
Bates County Youth Fair Board
The 2022 Community Policing Program also teamed up with various community organizations like the Adrian Optimist Club and various businesses to host its second annual Free Community Rodeo. Another notable relationship formed is with the Western Missouri Antique Tractor and Machinery Association to add a replicated 1880s style Sheriff’s Office to the Frontier Village in Adrian Missouri.
The Sheriff’s Office is a member of the CNET Drug Task Force, Southwest Missouri Major Case Squad, Western Missouri Critical Incident Investigation Team, Heartland Tactical Officer Association and the National Tactical Officers Association.
The following are some interesting stats from various divisions within the Sheriff’s Office.
Communications -
53,548 total phone calls received by dispatch
3915 were 911 calls
10,391 were calls for service that were dispatched
Jail -
Average daily population of the jail was 201
Over 220,000 meals were served
Approximately 10,000 loads of laundry were done
Approximately 3500 medical visits were performed by in-house nurse/doctor
Approximately 1300 court appearances were facilitated by staff
Approximately 1100 people were booked into the jail
Approximately 10,000 pieces of mail were processed
Patrol -
7218 calls for service were responded to
957 civil papers were served or attempted to be served
21 vehicle pursuits initiated or assisted other agencies
205 motor vehicle accidents
23 death investigations
35 suicidal subjects
602 medical calls
1244 speak to officer calls - civil matters
362 assist other agencies
Approximately 450,000 miles were patrolled
In review, the Sheriff’s Office saw a 9% decrease in reports taken by deputies with a 15% increase in speak to officers for civil matters. The Sheriff’s Office saw an approximate 3% decrease in burglaries, an approximate 45% decrease in assaults, and an approximate 25% increase in narcotics cases worked. We have seen an approximate 30% increase in drug overdoses or drug related medical calls for service.
I would like to say that I am proud of the hard work of the men and women of the Bates County Sheriff’s Office. No matter what division or what the job they always go above and beyond what is expected of them.
I’m excited to see what they can accomplish in 2023 working with the citizens of Bates County. I want to say Thank You to all of you that have supported the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office and we look forward to continuing your trust and friendship.
The last Division is the all volunteer Sheriff’s Posse. The Sheriff’s Posse’s primary duties are to supplement personnel for the Sheriff’s Office during times when the need arises. These events include search and rescue and deploying assets to natural disasters here in Bates County and beyond when requested. The Posse has equipment to deploy to include a drone, UTVs, ATVs, and multiple mounted horse units. The Sheriff’s Posse is prepared to support the operations of the Sheriff’s Office in any manner requested.
The Sheriff’s Office had a 2022 Budget of $6,114,175.00. The Sheriff’s Office ended the year 20% under budget. 2022 brought various new programs to the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff, working with the schools in unincorporated areas, began the School Resource Deputy Program allocating two deputies (one position to be filled) to rotate between the 6 schools. The Sheriff’s Office expanded its Community Policing Program to sponsoring youth programs that encourage activities for youth that build character, provide activities that promote healthy decisions vs drug use and crime and to continue the culture lifestyle of rural America like farming and livestock. The financial support is intended to help with entry fees or program fees to help make these programs available to the kids who otherwise could not afford to participate. The following are the programs that benefited from financial support from the Sheriff’s Office;
Adrian Youth Soccer Club
Bates County Children’s Center
Butler Cub Scout Pack 4237
Adrian Little League Baseball
Aqua Bears Swim Team
Rich Hill Summer Ball Association
Explosion Basketball
Butler Bandits Travel Softball
Adrian Little League Football
Hume Fair Association
Butler Wrestling
Bates County Youth Fair Board
The 2022 Community Policing Program also teamed up with various community organizations like the Adrian Optimist Club and various businesses to host its second annual Free Community Rodeo. Another notable relationship formed is with the Western Missouri Antique Tractor and Machinery Association to add a replicated 1880s style Sheriff’s Office to the Frontier Village in Adrian Missouri.
The Sheriff’s Office is a member of the CNET Drug Task Force, Southwest Missouri Major Case Squad, Western Missouri Critical Incident Investigation Team, Heartland Tactical Officer Association and the National Tactical Officers Association.
The following are some interesting stats from various divisions within the Sheriff’s Office.
Communications -
53,548 total phone calls received by dispatch
3915 were 911 calls
10,391 were calls for service that were dispatched
Jail -
Average daily population of the jail was 201
Over 220,000 meals were served
Approximately 10,000 loads of laundry were done
Approximately 3500 medical visits were performed by in-house nurse/doctor
Approximately 1300 court appearances were facilitated by staff
Approximately 1100 people were booked into the jail
Approximately 10,000 pieces of mail were processed
Patrol -
7218 calls for service were responded to
957 civil papers were served or attempted to be served
21 vehicle pursuits initiated or assisted other agencies
205 motor vehicle accidents
23 death investigations
35 suicidal subjects
602 medical calls
1244 speak to officer calls - civil matters
362 assist other agencies
Approximately 450,000 miles were patrolled
In review, the Sheriff’s Office saw a 9% decrease in reports taken by deputies with a 15% increase in speak to officers for civil matters. The Sheriff’s Office saw an approximate 3% decrease in burglaries, an approximate 45% decrease in assaults, and an approximate 25% increase in narcotics cases worked. We have seen an approximate 30% increase in drug overdoses or drug related medical calls for service.
I would like to say that I am proud of the hard work of the men and women of the Bates County Sheriff’s Office. No matter what division or what the job they always go above and beyond what is expected of them.
I’m excited to see what they can accomplish in 2023 working with the citizens of Bates County. I want to say Thank You to all of you that have supported the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office and we look forward to continuing your trust and friendship.
