HERMANN — Gasconade countians will have their third top cop in about six months on Sept. 28 when presumptive Sheriff-elect Scott Eiler will be given the oath of office as the interim sheriff, succeeding Mark A. Williams, who is stepping down.

Eiler’s swearing in has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28. This is earlier than originally announced due to his work schedule with the Hermann police.

Williams in March was named interim sheriff, succeeding John Romanus, who was beginning the fourth year of his term as sheriff when he announced he would be leaving the post to return to the private sector. Eiler is the Republican Party Primary Election winner, defeating Shawn Mayberry, and is unopposed in the November General Election.

Williams is stepping down after a prolonged and unsuccessful effort to fill several vacancies within the roster of deputies. The County Commission in recent weeks granted Williams permission to hire part-time deputies and, in breaking from longstanding practice regarding county employees, authorized overtime payments to deputies.

In his letter announcing his intent to step down, Williams said he believes the upcoming change from an interim sheriff to an full-term elected sheriff is a factor in the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department’s inability to hire deputies.

The upcoming induction of Eiler was announced by Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann, with little comment later in last week’s session. He said Eiler would be sworn in as the interim sheriff at the end of this month and then he will receive the oath of office again at the end of the year as sheriff for the four-year term that begins Jan. 1.

“I will not go into the personnel portion” of the situation involving Williams’ decision to step down, Miskel said.

The decision last week is the latest consideration made by county administrators regarding Eiler’s move into the sheriff’s office. With Williams’ appointment as interim sheriff in March, the County Commission first thought about naming the winner of the GOP Primary Election as the next sheriff. However, the commissioners then agreed they should wait until the Nov. 3 General Election vote is certified, even though the GOP nominee would be unopposed, because of the possible but highly unlikely event that a write-in candidate would emerge.

But Williams’ announced resignation as of Sept. 30 forced the commissioners to act and rather than have an ongoing series of interim sheriffs, the administrators decided to move up the appointment of Eiler.

In other county government matters, a lawsuit regarding maintenance of abandoned cemeteries is moving along — albeit rather slowly. The longtime caretaker of the Richardson Cemetery in the southern part of the county is suing the Commission in his bid to have the county take over maintenance of the family burial site.

Richard D. Owens, in earlier filings in the case that began in 2017, noted that he is no longer able to maintain the family graveyard and cited a state law that said abandoned cemeteries are to be maintained by county government.

The County Commission says if it is required to maintain private cemeteries it could prove costly to taxpayers. Fearful of setting a precedent, county officials are concerned a ruling upholding Owens’ claim could result in local government having to maintain an unknown number of small, family cemeteries. Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, estimated there might be 200 to 300 family burial plots scattered throughout the county.

In a telephone conference last week, in lieu of an in-person hearing, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green continued the case. Miskel said the judge will review the motions and decide if a trial should be held.

There was no information readily available regarding the next hearing or announcement by the judge.

Commissioners also acted on four requests for a share of funds from the county’s CARES Act fund being administered by the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC). County administrators gave approval to:

• Owensville Fire Department, which requested $1,221.

• Gasconade County Health Department, which asked for $8,650.

• NASSUS, a Hermann non-profit organization, for $12,000.

• Maries County R-2 School District, which was seeking reimbursement of $2,074. The request for funding stems from efforts at the Bland Middle School, which is located in Gasconade County.

Local government agencies, schools and non-profit organizations have until Dec. 20 to submit requests for reimbursement of money spent to protect against the coronavirus. The requests are submitted to MRPC, which conducts the verification of the requests and makes a recommendation to the Commission regarding payment. To date, the county has paid out a little more than $300,000 of the $1.725 million it received as its share of the money Missouri was allocated as part of the $2.2. trillion approved by the U.S. Congress in March.