Two counties sue state over ‘unconstitutional’ law on deputy pay

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two Mid-Missouri counties have sued the Missouri Attorney General, alleging that a state law that allows judges to set salaries for deputies and jailers in some counties is unconstitutional.

Audrain County and Montgomery County filed the lawsuit Thursday in Cole County. The county commissioners in each county are asking a judge to strike down the law, which lets panels of judges in Third and Fourth Class counties decide staffing levels for the sheriff's department and pay rates for its employees.

Instead, that power should be vested in county commissions, per the Missouri Constitution, according to the lawsuit.

"No provision in the Missouri Constitution expressly directs or permits the judiciary to manage the business and fiscal affairs of counties," the lawsuit states.

The suit claims that the Audrain County sheriff requested $1.37 million for deputy salaries in fiscal 2026, but the circuit court fixed salaries for deputies at $1.795 million. The sheriff requested $1.185 million for jailers, and the court decided to appropriate $982,000.

In Montgomery County, the sheriff requested about $1.2 million for jail salaries and $1.18 million for non-jail salaries, but judges ordered appropriations of about $1.322 million for jail salaries and $1.26 milion for non-jail salaries.

No hearings have been set.