Osage County Prosecutor Amanda Grellner announced Wednesday she will be dismissing or not pursuing any cases after finding improper actions that occurred while Osage County Sheriff Michael Dixon was in office.
Lt. Ron Dishman, the chief deputy of the department, handed in his resignation in August after replacing Dixon as sheriff in May.
Osage County commissioners appointed former Sheriff Carl Fowler, who agreed to serve until a new sheriff is elected in November.
"Upon taking office, Sheriff Fowler asked the Missouri Highway Patrol to do an independent investigation into the integrity of the evidence contained within the evidence room of the sheriff's department," Grellner said. "The catalyst for this was the state of the evidence room, lack of documentation for the evidence contained therein and the number of people that had access to evidence room during Dixon's tenure."
Grellner said the investigation found that not only did multiple people have access to the evidence room, but the door was left open and unattended on a number of occasions and a number of items were not properly documented, if documented at all, along with the state of the evidence and failure to secure and tag it properly.
"I met with members of the division of drug and crime control of the patrol after their investigation, and they determined they cannot verify or substantiate the integrity of the evidence contained within the evidence room," Grellner said. "As a result, I am obligated under two U.S. Supreme Court cases to not only disclose this breach, but to act accordingly knowing that the integrity of the evidence contained with cannot be verified."
"I am disappointed that proper care was not taken within the evidence room after Sheriff Dixon took office, as it will result not only in cases being dismissed, but also guilty pleas being set aside," Grellner added.