Missouri

Missouri's 114 sheriffs (plus St. Louis City and St. Louis County structural exceptions) are constitutional officers. Two structural anomalies dominate: Kansas City PD is uniquely state-controlled (RSMo ch. 84), not a county agency; and St. Louis County's "sheriff" is a civil-process officer only, with law-enforcement authority vested in the County Police Chief under an executive-appointed commission. No Missouri county has a civilian sheriff oversight body. The St. Louis City Civilian Oversight Board became effectively defunct when Missouri retook state control of SLMPD in March 2025.
Sheriff oversight
0/115 counties with a dedicated body 0 reports from those bodies
Other oversight
0 Civil Grand Jury reports 2 statewide oversight reports
Compare costs Compare Missouri sheriff departments side by side
115 sheriffs named · of 115 counties
Population, budget, $ per resident, staffing, and jail capacity across all 115 counties.

Data from CA State Controller's Office and CA State Sheriffs' Association.

State context

Missouri's 114 counties and the independent City of St. Louis, which has not been part of any county since it seceded from St. Louis County in 1876, each elect a sheriff. The office is established by statute: Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 57, section 57.010 sets a four-year term and expressly covers "any city not within a county," language that reaches the City of St. Louis. A constitutional amendment placed before Missouri voters in 2026, Senate Joint Resolution 87, would add an explicit constitutional requirement that counties elect a sheriff.

In three jurisdictions the sheriff's office holds a reduced role because a separate agency carries general law enforcement. In the City of St. Louis, the sheriff's office handles court security, prisoner transport, and service of process, while the Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD), returned to state control in 2025, serves as the city's police force. In St. Louis County, the elected sheriff's office handles civil process and court duties, while the St. Louis County Police Department, created in 1955, carries general law enforcement. In St. Charles County, voters approved a county police department in 2012, narrowing the sheriff's office to civil-process and court duties. In each case the sheriff's office was reduced, not abolished. No Missouri county has a civilian body with authority over its sheriff.

Counties

0 of 115 counties have a dedicated civilian sheriff oversight body. Highlighted rows have an established body. See methodology for scoring.

# County Status (date) Started (date) LE capability Independence

No record found · 115 counties

  • Adair
  • Andrew
  • Atchison
  • Audrain
  • Barry
  • Barton
  • Bates
  • Benton
  • Bollinger
  • Boone
  • Buchanan
  • Butler
  • Caldwell
  • Callaway
  • Camden
  • Cape Girardeau
  • Carroll
  • Carter
  • Cass
  • Cedar
  • Chariton
  • Christian
  • Clark
  • Clay
  • Clinton
  • Cole
  • Cooper
  • Crawford
  • Dade
  • Dallas
  • Daviess
  • DeKalb
  • Dent
  • Douglas
  • Dunklin
  • Franklin
  • Gasconade
  • Gentry
  • Greene
  • Grundy
  • Harrison
  • Henry
  • Hickory
  • Holt
  • Howard
  • Howell
  • Iron
  • Jackson
  • Jasper
  • Jefferson
  • Johnson
  • Knox
  • Laclede
  • Lafayette
  • Lawrence
  • Lewis
  • Lincoln
  • Linn
  • Livingston
  • Macon
  • Madison
  • Maries
  • Marion
  • McDonald
  • Mercer
  • Miller
  • Mississippi
  • Moniteau
  • Monroe
  • Montgomery
  • Morgan
  • New Madrid
  • Newton
  • Nodaway
  • Oregon
  • Osage
  • Ozark
  • Pemiscot
  • Perry
  • Pettis
  • Phelps
  • Pike
  • Platte
  • Polk
  • Pulaski
  • Putnam
  • Ralls
  • Randolph
  • Ray
  • Reynolds
  • Ripley
  • Saline
  • Schuyler
  • Scotland
  • Scott
  • Shannon
  • Shelby
  • St. Charles
  • St. Clair
  • St. Francois
  • St. Louis
  • St. Louis city
  • Ste. Genevieve
  • Stoddard
  • Stone
  • Sullivan
  • Taney
  • Texas
  • Vernon
  • Warren
  • Washington
  • Wayne
  • Webster
  • Worth
  • Wright