Maries County Courhouse

BELLE — Various offices at the Maries County Courthouse in Vienna received a Sunshine Law request on July 25 from Dana Thompson for records as far back as 10 years. Maries County Commissioners met in closed session on Monday to discuss how to proceed. Prosecutor Tony Skouby said the time and resources to comply costs the taxpayers.

“Dana Thompson submitted a Sunshine Law request to several offices last Thursday or Friday and the laundry list of things she asks for is time-consuming and interruptive,” Skouby told The Advocate on Monday. “We decided today (Monday) how to respond appropriately and legally, the best we can, to her request. The taxpayers should know we are spending county money and time to fulfill it.”

Those who received Thompson’s request include Sheriff Chris Heitman, Chief Deputy Scott John, Deputy Clerk Renee Kottwitz, Treasurer Angie Stricklan, Clerk Rhonda Rodgers, and the Maries County Commissioners.

“Some of it goes back for several years. Some requests are for three years,” Skouby said. “We have to pay county employees to do this. There is going to be a lot of time and work involved and we are charging for it.”

Each individual and office receiving the email could charge up to $500 to start researching and finding the requested documents. The county has three days to respond to the request and inform Thompson when the documents will be available.

“I have two very intelligent ladies who work for me,” Skouby said. “Some of these ladies don’t have anybody. The sheer volume of time and effort this is going to require — and what’s the reason? It would help greatly if they would tell us what they are looking for.”

According to Thompson’s letter, she is looking for “fraud waste and abuse.”

“Sunshine Law is meant for the truth to come to light when needed and this is being used as a weapon,” Skouby said. “Bigger government agencies have full-time staff for just this. I don’t have that luxury in Maries County. People are going to have to take time away from their duties to do this and it will be an intentional burden placed because the law allows them to do so. If there is a good reason, you can look at the facts and using common sense and deduce that this is being used as a weapon at this time. It’s costing taxpayers money and is not what the Sunshine Law was intended to do.”

Skouby said the Maries County Courthouse employees will do everything they can to accommodate the request in a timely fashion while still performing their duties, but felt the public should know what their taxpayer dollars are being used for.

“I doubt in any way that all of this stuff can be produced before the election,” Skouby added. “Obviously we’ve got three days to respond that we are working on the request and each office, depending on the records, is their responsibility, will have to determine a period in which we can fulfill the request and what, if anything, they are going to charge for the copying and labor they are going to charge to satisfy the request. There is a huge amount of time going into satisfying the request that will not be reimbursable because it is not time and copies.”

According to Thompson’s request, she wants copies of:

• All banking statements, all receipts, all invoices, for all financial accounts, both open and closed, from the Maries County Sheriff’s Office, the Emergency Management Office and the Posse for the last three years from July 25, 2024. This should include but not limited to the Special Sheriff’s Fund and the Posse accounts.

• All cell phone records and lists of whom is assigned to each number for the time period of January 2014 through July 24, 2024.

• All banking records, receipts, and invoices for the Emergency Management Department from July 2021 - July 2024.

• All fuel receipts from the Sheriff’s Department fro July 2021 - July 2024 with identification for whomever purchased the fuel.

• All records pertaining to the Commissary funds for inmates.

• All records of monies entering as well as disbursements for the Opioid Grant.

• All records of costs and invoices, receipts as well as the insurance documents and payments pertaining to the Elmore case.

Thompson first says she will pay for the large records request.

“I will pay for all copies and the time taken to make the copies,” Thompson wrote.

However, after giving the address where the documents could be sent, Thompson asked for the fees to be waived, using verbiage from Missouri Sunshine Law to claim the documents are not for personal or commercial use.

“If you believe your request serves the public interest and is not just for personal or commercial interest, you may ask that the fees be waived: I request that all fees for locating and copying the records be waived. The information I obtain through this request will be used to inform the public of any unethical behavior and or fraud waste or abuse. Please let me know in advance of any search or copying if the fees will exceed $500. If portions of the requested records are closed, please segregate the closed portions and provide me with the rest of the records.”

Skouby reiterated that the county employees plan to comply.

“Our intentions are to gather what records we have and try to get it copied and delivered as cheaply and sufficiently as possible,” Skouby said. “They are supposed to respond today about charges upfront. At least each department is going to ask for $500 upfront. We are going to do our best to do it by the book, but it’s not going to be done without me complaining about it a little bit.”

Skouby said he relies heavily on the sheriff’s attorney Dave Barrett in these situations.

The Maries County Sheriff’s Office has already responded to Thompson’s request, estimating $3,000 for research, time and copies.                                                               

Maries County Commission publishes the financial statement annually in March. The county is also on a four-year audit scheduled. Its next audit is expected in 2025.