July 20, 2026 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.At 9:08 am Trent made a motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel with Kent Page pursuant to RSMO 610.021(3). John seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
At 9:25 am Trent made a motion to go back into open session. John seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
Gabriel Gillette came in and presented the information requested by John from the Mt. Pleasant Township. John asked about a few more pieces of information to go with the paperwork he brought in.
Gabriel mentioned that he is hopeful of cleaning up the Township and set a standard for other Townships once he gets appointed and can take over. John told him that he had received Randy Cantrell’s resignation letter through email, as he is dealing with health issues and is currently in the hospital and could not hand-deliver the letter. John was ready to make a motion as soon as Jim joined them after Absentee Voting.
John then made a motion to accept Randy Cantrell’s resignation letter and to appoint Gabriel Gillette to Trustee of Mt. Pleasant Township. Trent seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
Sheriff Chad Anderson came in and informed the Commission of the acceptance of the Deputies that work for Bates County Sheriff's Office. They have been accepted to receive an estimated amount of $3,000 throughout the year. The amount will be broke up, being distributed each month until the total amount has been reached. This grant will be one that the Sheriff's Office applies for yearly, which requires the Commissions signatures. They are looking at a few other grants, as well as the Blue Shield Grant. Chad is hopeful to get that over to the Commission soon.
Chad also spoke about the training that some of his staff has recently received, which was also funded by several grants that they applied for, to educate these individuals on water rescue. He also told the Commission that they now have cold water wet suits, for when there is impossible boat accessibility, that was donated by the Rich Hill Fire Department.
Dennis Jacobs, with EMA, came in and informed the Commission of this week's meetings and welcomed the Commission to join if they felt moved to do so.
July 22, 2026 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
John Hickman with Health Insurance Cooperative (HIC) Agency Incorporated met with the Commission and discussed their approach to Health Insurance, explaining that they can offer cheaper specialty medications that can be shipped directly to your door.
Jim spoke over the things that he felt would happen when they switched and discussed the differences in their plan versus the plan the County currently has.
John stated that he can see how this could work, spoke over current issues with the healthcare the County has right now and some details that caught his eye if they went with a new plan.
Jim and John stated that this could potentially be a good idea but there are some things they need to think about and consider if they were to switch when their contract is up.
John H. told the Commission that HIC is a family-owned company and they pride themselves on having a connection with the employees, not just the County. They give you their personal number so you can reach them directly via text or call. They also make sure to make quarterly visits to keep that connection and talk to employees to make sure there aren’t things that are happening that they are missing. They have the capability to cover small counties, as well as large ones. He then went on to explain that they get their funding by charging $25.00 a person and expressed that he would like to be involved in the conversation when the county is up for bid.
Jami Page, the Bates County Clerk, sat down with the Commission to address the response from the Attorney that was representing the Bates County Sheriff dealing with the Audit. Jami wanted to explain the comment the Attorney made about the back pay that was paid out. She presented a copy of the letter that was approved and signed by Chad Anderson, the Bates County Sheriff, to pay the back pay and explained that there wasn’t anything in the response about the letter, making it seem like there was funds spent without his approval.
John stated that he felt there was a lot more that was left out and was concerned as to why they used pictures and purchases from 15 years ago. Jami then found where the Audit stated they were not limited to 2024-2026.
Jami mentioned again that her issue and concern was that there was nothing said about the approval letter that the Sheriff signed, giving her the approval to pay those funds out. The attorney made it seem as if she paid the money out without his permission, and that was not the case.
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