It's time for the sheriff to speak up

With a little more than 30 days until the primary election, the timing is very good for retiring Jackson County Sheriff Tom Phillips to “make public” the issues.

Sheriff Phillips has walked in the shoes of leadership for eight years, and his experience has taught him things that no one else knows. He is certainly the most qualified “expert” on the challenges.

Yes, the County Legislature gave him a 30-year pin and congratulations, but he also took the heat when they summoned him to appear before them. You may not have known it, but a part of the job of the sheriff is to go before the Legislature and ask for money.

Year after year, Phillips has had to beg for money to maintain the sex offender registry. And in every election cycle, the candidates for Legislature promise to provide funds for serving a “backlog of warrants” that number in the thousands. Yet, the needed money never arrives.

Also, you may recall that the sheriff had to answer for the long delay in starting a program for conceal-and-carry permits. The public held the sheriff responsible, but once again, it was the Legislature holding the purse strings.

And, while I’m sure the sheriff would have liked a budget that would allow him to pay his deputies competitive wages, just obtaining money for proper equipment has been a struggle with the Legislature.

It is no secret that deputies have had to deal with inadequate radio communication, drop-out zones on patrol and cold spots in the courthouses. And for the past three years the Legislature has taken “no action” when asked to provide Taser guns for courtroom deputies.

As it stands now, a deputy must draw a weapon of deadly force to subdue the unruly. Wouldn’t a Taser be more appropriate? Purportedly, just last month, inside the Independence courthouse a deputy was bitten on the leg (drawing blood) by someone who was out of control.

And surely Sheriff Phillips knows how it felt to watch $9 million go to the Fort Osage Tourist Center and not a dime toward a new Sheriff’s Office. He recently named a new facility as “the biggest need of the Sheriff’s Department.”

And so, as you read this, you might be led to believe that groveling before the Legislature is a big part of being the sheriff. And you might be right. You see, the majority of the department’s money comes from the County’s “road and bridge fund.”

That’s correct. About 75 percent of the money that operates the Sheriff’s Department is taken from the road and bridge fund. Wouldn’t you think the Sheriff’s Department should have its own source of funds? And shouldn’t that be the campaign issue?

And so, I know the timing is right and my hope is that Sheriff Phillips might take the opportunity to submit a guest column. He could bring issues to the forefront “as only he knows them.”

Sheriff Phillips recently said to me, “John, isn’t that your choice?” And his comment has stayed with me. So I say to him “likewise.” I guess it will be his choice. We’ll see.