St. Louis Judges Aim to Hire Court Security, Supplanting Sheriff

They say short staffing at the sheriff’s office has led to security breaches

Dec 14, 2023 at 11:24 am

Sheriff Vernon Betts at the Carnahan Courthouse downtown. RYAN KRULL

St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts allegedly once bragged to a deputy that a judge on the 22nd Circuit Court was so scared of him that Betts could tell the judge "to shit in the middle of the court building" and he would.

But a new letter drafted by the court's presiding judge suggests that whatever power the sheriff had over the judges has waned. In a letter to the sheriff dated Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by the Riverfront Times, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hogan says that the sheriff's office is likely to be relieved of some courtroom security duties and that the court itself will hire 36 bailiffs to "provide daily security to the courtrooms, the jury room, the grand jury, the juvenile courtrooms, and treatment court." And Betts — whose office has historically handled those duties — is not happy.

The reason behind the change is the judges' contention that there should be a deputy in the courtroom any time anyone else is present, even if it is just a clerk and there is otherwise no court in session.

But Betts says he doesn't have the manpower for that.

According to a previous letter Hogan sent Betts in September, the courts buildings downtown have seen a number of "security breaches resulting in theft, vandalism and physical disruption and these have occurred outside a formal hearing, and when the courtrooms have been left without security."

In August 2022, for example, a south city woman was charged for trying to swipe a judge's laptop out from under his bench while there was no court in session, as the Post-Dispatch reported at the time.

Reached by phone this morning, Betts tells the RFT about the letter from Hogan, "They just came to me yesterday with that malarkey."

Betts says the circuit court judges are trying to take over the sheriff's office.

"The judges have got their panties in a bunch and have caught themselves being slick," he says, adding, "I know in my heart of hearts these judges want to run the sheriff's department. And it's not going to happen."

Betts acknowledges that his department is short-staffed, "like everybody else in law enforcement." He says he's lost 35 deputies this year, with many receiving their Peace Officer Standards and Training certification and then jumping ship to the police department or another law enforcement agency.

"I'm losing people left and right. Because I'm so short-staffed, I got to do some juggling with my staff," Betts says.

He says that both the clerks' desks and judges' benches have panic buttons, and if they’re pushed, a deputy will show up "in an instant."

He adds that if he had a higher budget and no staffing issues, "I'll put a deputy in a courtroom all day wasting taxpayers’ money, doing nothing on the telephone," if that's what the judges want.

A letter drafted by Betts to the judges in July states that although the sheriff's office is authorized to have 170 deputies, only about 80 are present in the court on any given day.

To that, Hogan replied in September, "It remains unclear to the court the reason that almost half your employees do not appear for work."

"That Elizabeth Hogan is killing me," Betts says.

It's worth noting that on any given morning, sheriff's deputies in uniform can be spotted working secondary security jobs at everywhere from Schnucks stores to Walgreen to coffee shops in Soulard.

Attorney Terry Niehoff, a regular presence at the buildings of the 22nd Circuit Court, says the quarrel between the courts and the sheriff's office is indicative of city-wide dysfunction.

"The worst part about the city is the siloes," Niehoff says. "The sheriff's office, the police, the courts, the jail. They're always fighting. They all hate each other."