Judge accepts guilty plea from former Callaway sheriff

HUNTSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

A judge has accepted the guilty plea from former Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism, according to an email from the Randolph County prosecutor.

Chism had pleaded guilty on Thursday to misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. He was previously charged with DWI and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation.

Chism was removed from his position as Callaway County Sheriff in June after his peace officer’s license was suspended, amid allegations of drinking and buying alcohol while on the job. His license remains suspended. Darryl Maylee was appointed interim sheriff.

Moberly police were dispatched to an Arby's parking lot on Oct. 6, 2022, after receiving a report of property damage. An officer believed Chism was intoxicated and arrested him.

According to the Randolph County Sheriff's Department, Chism crashed his personal vehicle into a concrete barrier. Chism was arrested and posted a $2,000 bond.

A probable cause statement from November says Chism was asleep when an officer came up to his pickup truck and a puddle of vomit was on the ground outside the driver's side door. An open bottle of "Mike's Harder Lemonade" was in the center console, the officer wrote. He had to be shaken awake, the officer wrote.

The statement says Chism refused to get out of the vehicle when commanded and resisted officers who pulled him out. He smelled like alcohol, his speech was slurred and he was staggering, the officer wrote.