In my articles on Cole County, I've been covering the history of our communities and departments in the county. This month, I'm writing on our Cole County Sheriff's Department and our jails. It is quite a history!
Cole County was created in 1820 when it separated from Cooper County, but it wasn't until early 1821 that the first Cole County Court (Commission) was appointed with John Vivion, James Stark and Jason Harrison as the first judges (commissioners). The court made Paul Whitley the first sheriff of Cole County. Whitley had an interesting life, having been born in North Carolina, accompanied Daniel Boone up the Missouri River in 1797, and becme one of the first settlers in 1816 in what would become Cole County. Whitley also built the first Cole County Jail in Marion, the county seat at a final cost of $690. It was 14 square feet, constructed of oak timbers.
The county seat moved to Jefferson City in 1829 and the Cole County Court (Commission) appropriated $900 to build a new jail. The structure was a log cabin located north of the current courthouse in the parking lot next to the Methodist Church. This served the county well until 1840 when the Cole County Court allotted $1,700 for a new structure at the corner of East McCarty and Monroe streets. This was a two-story building with four rooms - the two downstairs for the sheriff and his family, one upstairs for criminals and the other for debtors. This building had many additions and later became the Jefferson City Police Department. This was an infamous building that was bulldozed down early one morning in 1981.
The next Cole County Jail is the now-abandoned jail and sheriff's residence at 301 E. High St. They were built together as part of a WPA Public Works Administration Project in 1936. Schell Construction Company won the bid at $65,000. This new jail was built to house up to 60 prisoners and the sheriff's residence; it had four rooms on the first floor and four rooms on the second floor.
An interesting sidebar is while giving tours of the new jail, Presiding Judge (Commissioner) E.S. Bond lost the tip of his index finger when one of the architects of the jail accidentally closed a cell door on his hand. Bond was rushed to a physician who amputated part of his finger. (Never trust an architect!)
By the 21st century, this jail was inadequate to house all the inmates and the sheriff's house had become the Sheriff's Department offices. In 2007, the residents of Cole County voted for a permanent sales tax to fund a new law enforcement center, which included the jail. Our new center opened in 2011 and cost approximately $28 million to build. We've come a long way from $690, $900, $1,700 and $65,000; but law enforcement has changed greatly since 1821. We can house more than double the number of prisoners that all the old jails combined could hold.
Cole County has had 43 sheriffs in its 200-year history, the first being Paul Whitley and the present being John Wheeler. In between, we've had some interesting sheriffs, and many names that are familiar to Cole County. William Bolton was elected sheriff in 1858, but joined Parson's Missouri Volunteers of the Confederate Army in early 1861. H.L. Bruns was sheriff from 1862-66, and was followed by George H. Dulle from 1866-70. Green C. Berry was sheriff from 1870-74, and Green Berry Road is named for him. Samuel H. Sone held office from 1894-98, and Henry Hagener was sheriff from 1908-12.
In the 1930s during Prohibition, former Sheriff Hagener was found guilty of selling whiskey in the Cole County Courthouse and was sentenced to two years in Leavenworth. Other recognizable names include Gretlein, Prenger, Walz, Jobe, Markway, Debo and our longest-serving sheriff, Wyman Basinger, who served from 1968-86.
Basinger is the sheriff I remember growing up, and he was probably one of the best-known people in Cole County. He started his tenure with six full-time and two part-time deputies who were paid by the county and 15 auxiliary deputies. Deputies at this time furnished their own automobiles that were outfitted with lights, radios and emblems, and they were reimbursed for mileage.
The annual Sheriff's BBQ at Rip's Mor-eo-Lodge raised funds to help buy equipment and outfit the Sheriff's Auxiliary, and it was a wonderful barbecue! He is also remembered for taking young men who got in trouble to military recruiters and helping them to enlist. Basinger was a legend in Cole County who died of a massive blood clot after being involved in a traffic accident near Brazito while responding to an emergency call.
John Hemeyer succeeded Wyman Basinger followed by George Brooks, Gary Kempker and Greg White.
Cole County has had many great sheriffs and our jails have grown from a 14-foot, one-room building in Marion to a 168,000-square-foot Law Enforcement Center. Today, Sheriff John Wheeler protects Cole County with 55 deputies and seven reserve officers, 50 jailers and 45 members of the Sheriff's Posse.
The jail houses about 150 inmates every day and our road officers cover almost 500 miles of roads in Cole County. Our Sheriff's Department is much more sophisticated in the 21st century with detectives, SWAT and Mustang Drug Task Force teams all watching over the residents of Cole County. When you see one of our deputies thank them for their service and come out to the Sheriff's Barbecue at the fairgrounds for some of the best BBQ around!
Information for this article came primarily from a history of the Cole County Sheriff's Department by Robin Blevins. This history could soon become a book.
Sam Bushman is the presiding commissioner on the Cole County Commission. He shares his perspective each month on county issues. He can be reached at [email protected].