The City of New Franklin has entered into a contract with the Howard County Sheriff’s Department to provide police coverage for the city starting May 1. The contract was signed at a special meeting of the city council held on Thursday, April 22.

The move is expected to save New Franklin around $41,000 a year, which is necessary so the city may pay off looming debt. A balloon payment of around $112,000 for municipal bonds is due in 2023 and the city is struggling financially. Smaller payments are due in the meantime.

“The unfortunate part is we had to make some cuts,” said New Franklin Mayor Newton Arbogast. “We’ve looked at everything and we’re running just about as lean as we can run.”

Arbogast said that when he took office in April of 2019 the city was running in the red and bouncing checks. “The gravity of the situation is real,” he said. The city is now running in the black and the Mayor hopes to keep it that way. 

The city’s police budget for fiscal year 2021 was $95,140.80. Under the contract with the sheriff’s department, New Franklin will pay $4,500 per month for police coverage of 40 hours per week, which adds up to $54,000 over 12 months, a savings of around $41,000 a year. The city will retain ownership of its Ford Explorer police vehicle, which will be leased for $1 to the sheriff’s department for use by the deputy patrolling New Franklin. The city will continue to cover insurance costs associated with the vehicle. 

The city may also decide to sell the police department building next to City Hall. However, it is not known for how long New Franklin will contract with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement. In the event that the city one day decides to re-establish its own police department, it will once again need the building.

“It may come down to the best interest of the town with the money situation we’re in is to pay that thing off and put it on the market to be sold,” said Ward 2 Alderman Robbie Harvey. 

The 40 patrol hours guaranteed in the contract will not necessarily be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. “It will be 40 hours spread out,” explained Sheriff Jeff Oswald. “Our approach will be proactive patrolling to try to decrease the criminal element, the narcotics, which drive a lot of property crimes.” 

Deputies will also be sworn in by the city so they may enforce municipal codes and ordinances, but not building codes. The department will also provide monthly reports to the city council.

The city has been without a full-time police force for several weeks after cutting ties with former Chief of Police Mike Wise. Some law enforcement coverage was provided by a part-time police officer as well as by Howard County Sheriff’s Deputies while patrolling the southern portion of the county. This agreement will give the town dedicated law enforcement. Deputies also respond to emergencies and calls, regardless of the 40 contracted hours.

“If we get calls for a disturbance or burglary, we’re coming. You’re getting hours from us right now,” said Sheriff Oswald. “In the agreement, you’re getting 40 hours, but it’s going to go above and beyond that.

“My guys know that New Franklin and south Howard County need to see cops down here,” Oswald said.

Having the county sheriff’s department provide law enforcement coverage for small, rural towns is not without precedent. Other towns in Missouri have made such changes. Most recently, the Audrain County Sheriff’s Department began providing law enforcement coverage for the city of Vandalia in eastern Missouri.