The County Sheriff is a county-wide elected office serving a four-year term.
The Sheriff, by statute, is the chief law enforcement officer in the county. The position is filled by county-wide election every four years.
The Texas County Sheriff’s Office is entrusted with enforcing the law and preserving the peace in the largest county in the state of Missouri. Texas County is comprised of over 1000 miles of county-maintained gravel roads, numerous forestry roads as well as paved roads. The vast expanse of the county itself is a great challenge for patrol. With this in mind, the Sheriff’s Office coordinates several neighborhood watch programs throughout the county and seeks citizen input on criminal activity occurring in rural areas.
The department is staffed by trained and dedicated individuals that have desire to make Texas County a safer place for all citizens. Sheriff Scott Lindsey’s staff consists of 10 full-time deputies led by Chief Deputy Rowdy Douglas. All full-time Texas County Deputy Sheriff’s reside in the county and the Sheriff encourages his staff to involve themselves in community activities and organizations. In addition to the full-time deputies there are several reserve deputies available to assist in emergency situations and other events. Texas County also has a reserve deputy employed by the Plato School District as a school resource officer.
The Texas County Justice Center houses a 72-bed jail and employs 15 full time jailers, 3 part time jailers, 1 jail administrator, 1 assistant jail administrator, 2 full time cooks. The Sheriff’s office is dispatched by Texas County 911. During normal business hours support staff is available to answer questions about general information, concealed weapons permits and ATV/UTV permits for county roads, also Sheriff Lindsey can be reached by pressing 307 (extension) during the phone menu. The Sheriff’s office has many duties to perform. The Sheriff and his deputies investigate all reported crimes committed within the county including homicides, assaults, burglaries, arson, domestic violence, child abuse, illegal drugs and trespass complaints.
Serving civil processes such as garnishments and executions, notice of civil proceedings, land sales, ex-parte orders and criminal processes such as warrants and subpoenas are also part of the sheriff’s responsibilities. The Sheriff is also responsible for transporting prisoners to state correctional facilities, federal prisons and other holding facilities as well as extraditing fugitives apprehended in other states back to Texas County for prosecution.
The Texas County Sheriff’s office works closely with other law enforcement agencies including the Missouri State Highway Patrol, city police departments, drug task force, conservation officers, state child abuse investigators, fire marshals, probation and parole officers, juvenile officers and federal agencies in order to better meet the needs of the citizens living in Texas County.