Village of Theodosia signs contract with sheriff’s dept.

photo submitted Members of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department and the Village of Theodosia are pictured here in honor of the two organizations’ recent contract signing. Pictured, from left, is Ozark County Deputy Hunter Ryan, Deputy Vesa Phelan, Deputy Gannon Moss, Lt. Matt Rhoades, Theodosia Public Works Director Travis Carlile, Village Clerk Rachel Amos, Chairman John Maglione, Trustee Julie Rothenberg and Trustee Bob Metzger.

Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin is pictured here speaking to a group of members of the Theodosia Area Neighborhood Watch at its meeting at Cookie’s Restaurant in August 2022. Martin, who has regularly attended the meetings over the last several years, was discussing the challenges facing local law enforcement and what citizens can do to help. Attendance at the meetings range from 10 to 20 people usually.
At the last Village of Theodosia meeting, the board voted in favor of hiring the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department to provide law enforcement within the Theodosia city limits. That decision was followed up with an official contract signing Sept. 9.
In honor of the agreement, the Village of Theodosia is hosting a community picnic at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Village Hall, where residents can meet officers with the OCSD and ask questions about the law enforcement in the area. The Village will provide a free hotdog lunch with chips and other items for those who attend. Everyone is invited.
The new contract states that the OCSD will provide law enforcement of state and municipal statutes, as well as the Village’s ordinances, in addition to appearing and testifying on Village ordinance violations and maintaining records concerning activities and arrests within Theodosia’s city limits.
The Village has also secured the services of attorney Colin Young, who will serve as the city prosecuting attorney, filing tickets and other charges for the violations against the Village’s ordinances.
The contract says that the OCSD will store a boat for the OCSD to use for general water patrolling, and there will be an office space located at Village Hall for the OCSD to access.
The plan is for Lt. Matt Rhoades to attend the monthly Village meetings to have a direct line of contact each month with what might be going on in the city. The sheriff and other deputies are also available to the Village trustees and employees whenever they are needed. A similar agreement is in place where Deputy Josh Sherman attends the Gainesville city council meetings. The OCSD is also contracted to provide law enforcement in that municipality.
The OCSD services are offered to the Village of Theodosia for $15,000 per year, made in monthly payments of $1,250. The contract is good for one year, running from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2025.
To receive a copy of the Village ordinances or to inquire about a specific ordinance, call Village Hall at 417-273-4830 or email theovillagehall@gmail.com. For continued news and updates from the Village of Theodosia, like its Facebook page.
Neighborhood watches
The Village is also interested in working with Theodosia residents themselves to help keep the area safe and friendly for all residents through neighborhood watch groups.
Karen Metzger currently heads up a particularly active neighborhood watch group that includes about seven homes in the area of County Road 639, across Highway 160 from Dustin’s Body Shop.
“We started this a few years ago because everyone in our neighborhood is from a different state,” Karen told the Times. “We were from Ohio, and when we moved here we weren’t really familiar with the laws in Missouri like we were in Ohio.”
As Karen and her husband Bob got to know their neighbors, they decided it’d be fun and helpful to create the neighborhood watch group. The group tries to meet monthly, usually at Cookie’s Restaurant, but sometimes at other places like Village Hall, to visit and discuss plans and things to keep in mind.
“We just look out for each other. If someone is going to be gone from their home, they let us know, and we all keep an extra eye out on their place. If we see a strange vehicle come down the road or something like that, we call around to see whose it might be. We are just kind of the eyes and ears of the neighborhood. We also will get people’s mail when they’re out of town, or just help them however we can. We’ve come to really care about each other, and we want our neighbors to know that they can count on us when they need us.”
Karen says the neighborhood watch meetings have ranged from 10 people to 24 people at various points, and Sheriff Cass Martin has attended every meeting or sent a deputy in his place to answer questions and present information on various law enforcement topics.
“He’s really been great, and we’ve learned a lot from him,” Karen told the Times. She says as the summer rolls around, the group meets more infrequently unless something specific comes up, and then they call a meeting.
Another neighborhood watch group is in the early stages of forming, and the Village says they’d like to see others in the area create groups in the same neighbors-helping-neighbors spirit that Karen and Bob’s neighborhood has embraced. Karen says she’s happy to have other area residents who are interested in neighborhood watch come to their meetings to see what they’re about - or even growing her group to include a larger area of Theodosia if that’s what the community would like.
“When we first moved here, I thought of Theodosia a lot like a modern-day Mayberry. The first time I had a flat tire, three people stopped to see if they could help. That isn’t something that happens everywhere. It’s a pretty special thing. We want to embrace that spirit and bring our neighbors back together, kind of like it was in the old days.”
To find out more about creating a neighborhood watch group in Theodosia, contact Village Hall at 417-273-4830 or theovillagehall@gmail.com.