St. Francois County commission approves personnel changes, pay adjustments and multiple grant applications

St. Francois County commissioners voted Thursday to create a new chief deputy treasurer position, authorize multiple grant applications for public-safety equipment and adjust pay for certain county employees to comply with a new minimum-wage requirement.

The commission approved a motion to create a chief deputy treasurer at grade 6 in the treasury office after officials said a longtime accounting employee is retiring and that consolidated accounting and banking experience is needed for the office. "She's been here serving accounting, but she's retiring," an unidentified speaker said, explaining the personnel change. The motion to create the position was moved by Speaker 5 and seconded by Speaker 2; the board approved the motion by voice vote.

Commissioners also authorized the county to apply for several grants. Nick Jones, identified on the record as Emergency Management Director (Speaker 7), said the county applied for a Homeland Security counter unmanned aircraft systems grant for $47,984.80 and requested formal approval of the application. Jones said the drone would be used for storm damage assessments and searches. Speaker 5 moved to give permission to apply for the non‑matching grant; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The transcript lists a grant period beginning March 1, 2026; the end date in the transcript ("09/30/1927") appears inconsistent and is not specified in county materials.

The commission also heard from the sheriff’s office about a proposed Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) matching grant to replace roughly 32 vests coming off manufacturer warranties. Sheriff’s staff (Speaker 8) estimated the total cost at about $26,000–$27,000 and the county match near $13,000; they said the match would be identified from general-fund dollars, LERF board funds, or the inmate-security fund. Commissioners granted permission to apply for the BVP program and took potential match funding under advisement.

A non-matching $10,000 Iron Dog K9 International grant to maintain or expand the K‑9 unit was likewise authorized for application after a brief explanation of the program and timelines.

Separately, the commission reinstated an IT supervisor position and temporarily assigned an existing employee, Jessica (identified on the record as an IT staffer, Speaker 10), to the role at $22.90 an hour while a permanent director is recruited. "Jessica has agreed to do this temporarily," Speaker 10 said. Motions to add the position and place Jessica in it were approved by voice vote.

To conform with a new $15 minimum-wage law referenced during the meeting, commissioners approved a $0.92-per-hour increase for new CBIZ (annex/courthouse) hires to bring starting pay to $15 an hour, and a $1.00-per-hour adjustment for employees on the current CBIZ salary schedule effective Jan. 1. The transcript notes that the sheriff’s department and road/bridge staff are excluded from the CBIZ schedule and that union-negotiated wages for sheriff positions remain separate.

The meeting record shows these motions were approved by voice votes; specific roll-call tallies by member were not provided in the transcript.

What’s next: the commission flagged match funding sources for the BVP grant and took the sheriff’s grant request under advisement for budgeting details; recruitment steps for a permanent IT director were described but not scheduled.