16 St. Louis Sheriff’s Deputies Must Stand Down, Judge Orders

The order said that Sheriff Vernon Betts failed to follow proper procedures — and never got background checks

Aug 10, 2023 at 10:59 am

RYAN KRULL

Sheriff Vernon Betts at the Carnahan Courthouse downtown.

A St. Louis judge issued an order yesterday stating that 16 new sheriff’s deputies must hand over their badges because they were not properly hired by Sheriff Vernon Betts.

According to state law, deputies hired by the department need to be approved by a majority of the judges of 22nd Circuit Court, whose courtrooms the deputies handle security for, as well as pass a background check.

However, sources close to the department say that neither of those things have been happening recently and that some newly hired deputies may have criminal records, including felonies.

On Tuesday, Judge Elizabeth Hogan learned that a number of recently hired deputies had been brought into the department without proper procedures.

Late yesterday, Judge Hogan issued an order stating that 16 specific recent hires as well as "any other deputy hired by the sheriff without approval… are immediately prohibited from holding themselves as employees of the Sheriff's Department of carrying out any duties delineated to the Sheriff's Department."

Judge Hogan's order goes on to say that the Sheriff's Department has four business days to submit to the judges the proper materials for the recently hired deputies, who will need to complete a background check and interview with a committee of judges if they want to be hired.

"If in fact Mr. Betts has circumvented the hiring process for sheriff deputies, he has put public safety at risk. In which case, Mr. Betts has proven himself to be inept, untrustworthy and wholly unqualified to hold the position of sheriff for the City of St. Louis," says Alfred Montgomery, a former deputy with the department who ran against Betts for sheriff in 2020 and has already announced he’ll run against him in 2024.

Betts was already in the news this week as a civil lawsuit against him was in trial. A long-tenured deputy has accused Betts of telling him to ignore a subpoena and then retaliating against him when he didn't. That trial is expected to conclude later today.

This story has been updated.