HERMANN — A substantial change to a county government office is being considered by the Gasconade County Commission, a move that could put the administrators at odds with the Sheriff’s Department.

Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel on Thursday outlined to an Ameren representative a proposal to revamp the post of Emergency Management Director (EMD) from a part-time position to a full-time post held by a certified law enforcement officer. In addition to being the county’s emergency management chief, the employee would be responsible for courthouse security, armed with authority to make arrests.

However, as Miskel explained to John Bassford of Ameren, the new EMD might not be a member of the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department. “I don’t want the individual bowing to two gods,” Miskel said, indicating a desire to have the employee report to the County Commission and not to the sheriff.

As a member of the Emergency Preparedness Department at Ameren’s Callaway Nuclear Power Plant, Bassford regularly works with EMD Kris Bayless and his wife, Teresa. The two staff the county’s Emergency Operations Center on a part-time basis. Bassford met with the County Commission to learn more about the possible change in the office. He was contacted earlier by Kris Bayless to alert Ameren to the possible change in Emegency Management Agency personnel.

Miskel said while he normally is hesitant to discuss in detail potential personnel changes, he would explain the Commission’s thinking because Bayless contacted Bassford shortly after he was told the county administrators were considering what Bassford characterized as “an alternative method” of staffing the EOC.

At the outset of the panel’s discussion with Bassford, Miskel emphasized that no decision has been made regarding the EMD post. “We don’t know yet,” said Miskel, R-Hermann. “Our concern is always the safety of the citizens of Gasconade County.”

He also said there have been no formal “sit-down meetings” with either the EMD or Sheriff John Romanus. Miskel did note that he talked briefly with the sheriff about a possible change in the position and he mentioned that the new EMD might not be connected to the Sheriff’s Department.

“That’s where it kind of went South,” Miskel said.

But late Friday Romanus told the Gasconade County Republican that he knows  little about the proposal as outlined by Miskel to Bassford. The sheriff said he has no opinion on the matter and won’t form one until he formally discusses the potential change with the Commission. “There hasn’t been a meeting” with county administrators, Romanus told The Republican.

Likewise, Kris Bayless told The Republican Thursday that he knows only that the Commission is pondering a change in the EMD post. He had no further comment.

Courthouse security recently has become a topic of discussion among officeholders and employees who have been asking administrators about arranging active-shooter drills. The Commission earlier said it was awaiting guidance from the Sheriff’s Department on arranging the drills. But the Sheriff’s Department has maintained that starting active-shooter drills is a policy decision to be made by the Commission, not the sheriff’s agency.

Miskel told Bassford there are several reasons the Commission is considering a change. For example, he said, the workload is increasing for the county’s Emergency Management Agency, especially in terms of dealing with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during times of flooding. “The volume is increasing,” Miskel said.

And then there’s the need to deal with a crowded Courthouse at least once a week, thanks to the transfer during the past year of Municipal Court cases to Division 4 Associate Circuit Court  from Owensville, Rosebud and the city of Gasconade. County commissioners fear courthouse security will become an even larger concern if Hermann follows suit and transfers its Municipal Court cases onto the Associate Circuit Court docket.

Bassford said Ameren has developed a good working relationship with the Baylesses. “They have an emergency preparedness mindset and that’s good,” he told the Commission. “I find both of them to be very easy to work with and very cooperative.

“Our concern is always that the Letter of Agreement responsibilities are met,” Bassford said. As part of that agreement, Ameren provides significant funding for the EOC. Gasconade County is one of several Mid-Missouri counties that works with Ameren in preparing for a disaster at the nuclear plant. Bassford pointed out that FEMA, which oversees the drills held regularly by the county’s EMA, holds Gasconade County in high regard for its preparedness.

“If there is a change made, what kind of impact might that have on drills?” Bassford asked. Further, he asked, if a change is made to have a law enforcement officer as the EMD, “would that person be effective in that role…to meet all those responsibilities?”

Miskel was clear in his response.

“We will do nothing to impugn our relationship with Ameren,” he said. “We will tell you exactly what we’re doing.”