Beyond the Badge — Dobbs makes history as longest serving Butler County sheriff

When Mark Dobbs was a juvenile, he had no question about what he wanted to be in life: a professional football player in the NFL. But he also decided a more realistic goal would be to work as a law enforcement officer — he just didn’t realize he would be making regional history.

Prior to Dobbs, the longest serving sheriff in Butler County was Lester Massingham, who served 13 non-consecutive years as sheriff.

“Back then the chief of police job was also an elected position,” Dobbs explained. “So, he kind of went back and forth between that and the sheriff’s position.”

Now, as Dobbs starts year 21 as the Butler County Sheriff, Dobbs can’t help but take a quick look back while also looking to the future of his department.

Dobbs grew up in a family where he was surrounded by peace officers. He had an uncle and a cousin who both worked for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. His father was a deputy in Butler County. His great-grandfather had been a sheriff in Effingham, Illinois, and was shot in the line of duty.

“I think the era before the late 1960s was probably a more dangerous time for officers on a regular basis,” Dobbs noted. “I think society may have calmed quite a bit since then. It’s still a dangerous job, but not as bad as it used to be.”

Though he knew he wanted to be a law enforcement officer, his path on that journey started when he began working as a corrections officer in the Butler County jail. From there, he went on to attend the Southeast Missouri State Law Enforcement Training Academy. Dobbs was commissioned as a deputy sheriff in 1993 and later served as a shift supervisor and canine officer before running for sheriff.

“I have continued to maintain a lot of the same goals,” Dobbs remarked. “Staff retention is very important, and maintaining the current workforce in a challenging economy isn’t easy.”

During his tenure as sheriff, Dobbs has seen the department receive funding increases as a result of taxes, and he acknowledges those increases have been very helpful.

“But maintaining our vehicles, the administrative costs of staffing the department and the jail, along with the medical side of things for the jail and the meals... it is pretty expensive,” he noted. “And the cost of everything continues to go up.”

Dobbs said his philosophy has remained steady since the beginning: surround yourself with the best people possible.

“I have worked with a lot of great officers in my career,” Dobbs remarked. “But I would have to say this crew I have assembled now is probably the best that I have ever worked with. I’m extremely proud of the job they do. Our major case squad has a closure rate of 85%. And that’s a good number and we are proud of that number, but it could be higher. We are definitely shooting for 100%.”

Dobbs said he counts himself fortunate to live in an area that is supportive of its law enforcement and it helps him maintain a solid perspective and maintaining realistic goals.

“We have been fortunate in lots of ways,” Dobbs noted. “We don’t have a problem with recruitment. We do a good job of attracting officers to the department.”

Dobbs said part of that reason may be due to the fact that he regularly tells people about the Missouri Blue Line Scholarship, which is funded by the Department if Public Safety.

“That scholarship will pay for someone to attend the academy and get them trained and certified to be a peace officer,” Dobbs explained. “I want more people to know about it, because some people might worry about the financial aspect of training.”

Given the fact that the office of sheriff is an elected position, Dobbs said he believes one reason for his high rate of employee retention is due to the fact that political winds haven’t changed in 20 years within his department.

“Stability is very important in this line of work,” Dobbs noted. “A lot of times, when a new sheriff gets elected, there is a shake-up in how everything runs. That hasn’t happened here for a long time. I believe that I have hired every single person that works here, with the exception of one deputy.”

While Dobbs maintains a goal of staying focused on managing economic issues within the department, he said his larger goals could be more difficult to achieve.

“I would really like to make some progress and close some cold cases,” he explained. “There are some cases where the victims were true victims — by that, I mean they were doing nothing wrong and they weren’t up to no good — and they suffered as a result of the crime. I would really like to close some of those cases and get some justice for the victims and the victims’ families.”

As he continues to look forward, Dobbs hasn’t made any decisions as to whether or not he might serve another term beyond the one for which he was just elected.

“When it comes to elected positions, it’s all about the previous term,” Dobbs explained. “I can only just focus on what we have to deal with right now and do the best I can with what we have. Hopefully the people will continue to support me while I do.”

While he never set foot on the turf of a professional football field, Dobbs has had the support of the people for more than 20 years as sheriff.

“I know how things used to be, and I know how they are now,” Dobbs said. “I believe that things could be even better in the future.”