HERMANN — Gasconade County R-2 School District has evicted county government from a school building that has served as a polling place for Rural Canaan 111th precinct voters  —  the largest of the county’s 16 voting groups — with only a handful of weeks remaining until a busy Nov. 5 General Election.

Gasconade County Clerk Lesa Lietzow Thursday morning told the County Commission that her office had to act quickly to find another polling place after recently being notified by R-2 Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy that the county could no longer use the school building for polling — a move prompted by an earlier incident in which one or more people presumed to be voters wound up walking through the school’s hallways.

Lietzow said she offered to have increased security at the precinct during voting hours but that was rejected, as was her request to remain at the location for the General Election. Luckily, she said, the Owensville Church of Christ, 3635 Highway 19 South, was happy to serve as the new home for the precinct.

Hardy told the Gasconade County Republican she made the decision to have the county leave the school after talking with other superintendents in the region regarding their policies on using school buildings as polling places. Those that do allow it, she said, have the polling places set up in their administration buildings, such as the case with the Gasconade County R-1 School District.

“There was an incident when some people came into the school and went past all the barricades and went roaming through the halls,” Hardy said, adding that the incident prompted concern among the school’s staff and parents.

“The parents were concerned for the safety of the students during voting,” the superintendent said. “We did it for the protection of the kids,” she added.

Despite being put in a logistical bind so close to the General Election, the county clerk decided not to oppose the removal — although she could have.

“According to the state (law), I could commandeer it,” she said, regarding the use of the building. “I have the authority to use a tax-supported building,” the clerk added. “I can’t be kept out of a tax-supported building,” she said.

In addition to having to pack up and move voting equipment, there is a real dollars-and-cents cost to the taxpayers resulting from this move. The change of polling places means the precincts registered voters must be notified by mail.

“We’ve got to send new (voter) cards to 1,600 people,” Lietzow said, noting that such an effort will cost $900 in postage alone. “It’s the biggest precinct I’ve got,” she told the Commission.

Regarding the upcoming election, Lietzow said her office is recruiting additional poll workers. “I need a lot more judges,” she told the Republican. Each poll must have at least two Republican and two Democrat election judges. Some polls could have more, depending on the expected turnout.

In other matters at last week’s Commission session, Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, noted that with roads too dry to be graded Road Department crews have been able to clear some dead trees from alongside the roads — trees that would pose a hazard to motorists and possibly block traffic if they fell across the roads.

“We are trying to get some of the trees out,” Holland said, point to work that’s been done on Weeks Road and others to remove the trees.

County government officials still haven’t received the final paperwork on the new elevator, but the device is operational.

“It’s being used,” Lietzow said.

“It was used a lot yesterday,” added Circuit Clerk & Recorder of Deeds Jennifer Schneider.

The presumptive new Southern District associate commissioner, Ron Hardecke, is expected to get a better understanding of the details of county government administration when he attends the Oct. 11 meeting of the South Central County Commissioners Association at the Texas County Courthouse. He will be attending that meeting with Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann.

Hardecke defeated incumbent Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry D. Lairmore, R-Owensville, in the August Primary Election. He faces no opposition in the upcoming General Election and, once formally elected, would be sworn into office with his term beginning Jan. 1.