SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF

Voters will be faced with a lot of issues on the November ballot, including Amendment 6, which  allows the resumption of a $3 municipal court fee, established by state statute in 1983 to create the Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System.

It is not a new tax or levy. It is simply a court fee for those who are found guilty of a crime in the state of Missouri, and judges will still be allowed to waive court fees if they find that it is a hardship on the person.

Sheriff Steve Pelton, the president of the Missouri Sheriffs' Association Board of Directors, explained.

"For nearly 40 years that money helped fund the Sheriffs' Retirement System. Currently, around $3.8 million in being paid out annually to around 200 retirees and survivors. The amount received is based on the years served, but it averages out at roughly $19,000 per person per year, so it's not the Holy Grail of retirements, but it helps pay the bills," he said.

However, in 2015, a lawsuit was brought against the retirement system stating the $3 court fee was unconstitutional. The lawyer was able to establish a class action lawsuit in the process. Although the Sheriffs' Retirement System lost the case in the lower court, it won the appeal. However, the plaintiffs appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, and it lost. The opinion stated that the retired sheriffs had nothing to do with the administration of justice, and therefore the fee was unconstitutional. On July 1, 2021, the Sheriffs' Retirement Fund surcharge was removed from the schedules of cost.

Sheriff Pelton said that many think it was just another ploy to defund the police because none of the other court costs were challenged - and some have nothing to do with the administration of justice. For instance, a $2 Head Injury Fund surcharge, a $1 Independent Living Center surcharge, a $1 Motorcycle Safety Trust surcharge, and a $2 Spinal Cord Injury Fund surcharge, in addition to other surcharges, continue to be assessed on all guilty violations.

Legislation adopted in 2023 allowed a one-time appropriation of $2.5 million to be put into the fund. It also required sheriffs to pay 5 percent of his or her salary into the Sheriffs' Retirement Fund, which is estimated to bring in around $151,000 annually. But that isn't enough.

If Amendment 6 doesn't pass, the sheriffs retirement system is projected to be bankrupt in nine years. That means that younger sheriffs won't see any benefit because while they are required to contribute to the fund, it will be broke before they reach retirement age. It also means that the current 200 retired sheriff's and survivors will lose their benefits.

Sheriff Pelton said for some sheriffs, it will be catastrophic because it's the only retirement they have.

"Sheriffs lose the ability to be a part of the County Employee Retirement Fund (CERF), which is the most predominant retirement program around the state of Missouri, because with CERF, you get dropped once you are elected sheriff. I worked as a deputy for 26 years before I was elected, so for 26 years I paid into CERF. However, once I was sworn in, I could no longer participate. I won't lose the money that I put in over those years, but since taking office in 2017, it's been frozen," he said.

Sheriff Pelton said to protect the integrity of the office of sheriff and keep the "best and brightest" running for office, it's important for citizens to go to the polls and vote "Yes" on Amendment 6.

"I've said this many times before and I wholeheartedly believe that the office of sheriff doesn't belong to the sheriffs - it belongs to the citizens of our respective counties. I believe I am speaking for all of Missouri's sheriffs when I say that we are just honored to hold the title," he said. "I have some staff members that stated they wouldn't run for sheriff in the future because if elected, they'd be giving up CERF and LAGERS. That's not a financially smart decision so you're going to have the wrong person running when there's no financial stability with the job."