HERMANN — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is hoping his office can be a resource for local law enforcement agencies and area prosecuting attorneys’ offices.

“We know you have tough jobs and we just want to be there to support you whenever we can,” Bailey told a group of law enforcement personnel, area prosecutors and some elected officials who attended a meet-and-greet gathering with the attorney general Friday afternoon in the Gasconade County courthouse.

Bailey, who lives nearby just north of Rhineland, was meeting formally for the first time with local law enforcement and others since his appointment to the position by Gov. Mike Parson. Bailey was on Parson’s staff when he was named to succeed then-Attorney General Eric Schmidt, who was elected in November to the U.S. Senate.

Before joining state government, Bailey spent time working in several mid-Missouri prosecuting attorneys’ offices, looking to fulfill a desire to be a prosecutor — a desire that was sparked by his grandfather, who was in law enforcement.

Bailey said it’s important for the Attorney General’s Office to “re-establish relationships” with local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.

Attending the Friday afternoon session, held in the main courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse, were representatives of several police agencies — Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department, Osage County Sheriff’s Department, Hermann Police Department, Owensville Police Department, Union Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, as well a the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group (LANEG). Bailey was introduced by Gasconade County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Weston, who was joined by Osage County Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Grellner and Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Becker. The three counties comprise the 20th Judicial Circuit.

Bailey explained the role of his office in handling appeals of Circuit Court cases — there are about 1,100 appeals pending at any given time, he said — as well as representing state government in court cases. The office has positions for about 300 people, Bailey said, but only has a roster of about 200 at this time, the result of the labor shortage affecting all aspects of the economy.

Bailey said he hopes to convene a conference of his office, local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to develop pieces of legislation that all groups can get behind and lobby for, rather than depend on individual organizations pushing their own interests in the Missouri General Assembly.

“If all of these associations can band together on one piece of paper, it would be hard to stop,” he said.

There are other areas of the judicial system that Bailey thinks should be examined for an update, such as the juvenile justice system, which, he said, “hasn’t been updated since before 2016.”

Bailey is scheduled to return to the Gasconade County Courthouse later this month as the co-counsel in the state’s prosecution of Kenneth Lee Simpson, 35, charged with killing one Hermann policeman and wounding another in the March 12 incident at Casey’s General Store on Highway 19.

A preliminary hearing for Simpson is set for Friday, May 26. Heading the state’s effort will be Kelly Lynn Snyder with Bailey and Gregory Goodwin of the Attorney General’s Office serving as co-counsels. Simpson is represented by 20th Circuit Public Defender Matthew Shellenbergar.

Weston and Grellner applauded Bailey’s offer of assistance to local prosecutors, especially those of 3rd-Class counties such as Gasconade and Osage.

“We appreciate that you’re going to be hands-on,” Grellner said.

In 3rd-Class counties, prosecuting attorney is technically a part-time position, which means the elected officials often conduct private practices to generate additional income. Indeed, as Bailey noted, there are eight counties in Missouri without a prosecuting attorney, which means those counties must contract with neighboring counties for prosecution services.

Weston has advised Gasconade County administrators that she plans on retiring at the end of her current term and there doesn’t seem to be much interest among local attorneys for the position, which could put this county in danger of being counted among those looking to others for prosecution services.

There was some discussion in this year’s Missouri General Assembly to make the position more full-time, but that effort ran out of steam before the session ended.