HERMANN — Gasconade County administrators will be exploring the possible split of the Circuit Clerk & Recorder of Deeds Office, a move that would result in the creation of a new county government department and another elected officeholder.

New Circuit Clerk & Recorder Jennifer Schneider raised the idea of dividing the office at last week’s session of the County Commission. A separation of services would allow each to more closely focus on its area of work, rather than regularly having to switch gears to deal with business that arrives at the joint office’s door.

Gasconade County is one of only 16 of Missouri’s 114 counties in which the office staff handles duties of both the Circuit Clerk’s Office and the Recorder of Deeds’ Office. The other 98 counties have separated offices.

Another reason for a possible split is that the joint office combines both state and county government oversight. A circuit clerk, while elected in a countywide vote, is under the auspices of the state courts system while a recorder is a full-fledged county government employee.

Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, suggested that a committee of county government officeholders be formed to study the issue.

“I think we at least need to start the conversation,” Schulte said, noting that a possible change would take some time to accomplish. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Associate Commissioners Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, and Jim Holland, R-Hermann, were open to considering a potential change. Schulte suggested a panel “sit down and write some things down and come back and talk about it.”

Schneider’s suggestion of a possible division of the office came shortly after Schulte raised the notion that offices within the courthouse be rearranged to group the administrative offices on one floor and all court-related offices on the second floor.

“I think it would make sense, logistics wise,” Schulte said.

Under such a move, the Circuit Court Division 4 offices of Associate Judge Ada Brehe-Krueger would be moved to the second floor, which also contains the Sheriff’s Department’s courthouse office and Prosecuting Attorney Mary E. Weston’s office. Moving down to the first floor would be County Assessor Paul Schulte.

In other matters at last week’s session, an agreement with state government regarding the portion of the Rock Island Trail as it runs through unincorporated Gasconade County would not include a provision for long-term maintenance, Lairmore reported.

“Supposedly, they (Missouri Department of Natural Resources) took care of it,” he said, noting that Meramec Regional Planning Commission staff are handling the paperwork for the county as it applies for a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant.

If approved, the funding would be used by Gasconade County as its share of the costs to prepare the trail as it stretches across about 13 miles of unincorporated county. Municipalities such as Owensville, Bland and Rosebud are responsible for maintaining the trail as it runs through those cities.