CARTHAGE, Mo. —
Nearly $150,000 in recommended allocations to Jasper County law enforcement agencies will be considered by the County Commission at 9 a.m. Thursday, but a decision on a final funding request will await another meeting of the county’s Law Enforcement Sales Tax Grant Board.
The board met Tuesday and decided to table action on funding sought by the campus police force at Missouri Southern State University. Remaining grants to 11 law enforcement agencies recommended earlier by the board were forwarded to the County Commission for final action.
The board earlier had tabled the MSSU request until a department budget could be submitted. Members decided Tuesday that more information is needed, according to Jim Woestman, grant board chairman.
The MSSU department had submitted a request for just over $31,000 to buy two used vehicles and uniforms. Some on the board questioned allocating county tax money to a department of the university, which is funded by the state. Ken Kennedy, MSSU department chief, told the board at an earlier meeting that state universities had been hit with several years of funding cuts. He said his officers were driving vehicles that were purchased used or were given to the department by other cities.
Woestman said he would seek a meeting with university officials to discuss the issues surrounding the request before the panel makes a recommendation.
Board members in November decided that the MSSU department was eligible to apply for grant funds. Kennedy at the time told the board that his officers are commissioned by the state, and that the operation has mutual-aid agreements with the Joplin, Webb City, Duquesne and Carterville police departments.
Remaining grant requests recommended to the commission would provide funding to 11 agencies for purchases ranging from vehicles to stun guns to computers. The largest allocation was to the Jasper Police Department, at just over $23,000 for a vehicle. The smallest was to the Jasper County Juvenile Department, nearly $1,800 for purchases that include office furniture.
Nearly $182,000 is available for allocation, including some funds carried over from last year.
Proceeds
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES in the county are to share 4.3 percent of the revenues from the sales tax. Collections from the quarter-cent tax topped $4 million last year.
Local News
Jasper County Commission to review police requests for funding from sales tax proceeds
- Local News
-
-
Sheriff’s funds to pay for two building projects
Jasper County’s general fund budget may pay some initial costs for renovating and constructing two county buildings, but the final bill for the projects will come from law enforcement sales tax funds.
-
Pittsburg crews work to repair storm damaged Schlanger Park
City crews using heavy equipment spent Thursday cleaning up Schlanger Park after a storm tracked through Monday night.
-
No charges to be filed in Joplin shooting case
The nonfatal shooting of a 25-year-old man at a Joplin residence on May 13 has been deemed justified by authorities. Jacob B. Boykin, 21, of Joplin, shot Justin S. Johnson, 25, of Carterville, once in the chest with a small-caliber handgun at 5260 E. Sunny Acres Lane.
-
Mike Pound: DVD smells like pizza; how great is that?
Just when I think the rest of the world is passing us by, this great country does something that renews my faith in innovation. It does something that renews my faith in that can-do spirit that led Charles Lindbergh to fly nonstop across the Atlantic, thus leading to the invention of the airplane bathroom.
-
Joplin Board of Education to decide fate of East Middle School teacher
After hearing nearly 10 hours of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses and accepting more than 45 exhibits into evidence, members of the Joplin Board of Education voted to move behind closed doors Thursday night to decide whether Randy Turner, a communication arts teacher at East Middle School, will continue to teach.
-
Memorial Day travelers bemoan high gas prices
Norm Hayward and his wife, Claudia, have a couple of things going for them as they continue their increasingly expensive motor home trip around parts of the United States. For starters, the Phoenix, Ariz., couple are saving on hotel costs.
-
Cunningham Park vandalism estimated at $4,000
Vandals caused an estimated $4,000 worth of damage in Cunningham Park, draining the pool in the aquatic center of about 200,000 gallons of water and throwing some large landscaping rocks into the reflecting pond.
-
Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
It was a long drive in the middle of a severe thunderstorm that had earlier produced a massive tornado in Moore, Okla. With the two-year anniversary of Joplin’s deadly twister approaching on Wednesday, a team of 14 Joplin emergency workers was ready to risk the trip in order to get help to a hurting Moore.
-
Cunningham Park vandalism bill estimated at $4,000
The city estimates that vandals caused about $4,000 worth of property damage in Cunningham Park, draining the swimming pool of 200,000 gallons of water and moving some large landscaping rocks into the reflecting pond.
-
Content of book, students' access to it at issue in hearing for suspended teacher
A standing-room only crowd is present at the hearing this morning to decide the fate of suspended Joplin Middle School teacher Randy Turner, who has asked for the hearing before the board of education.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Sheriff’s funds to pay for two building projects
