ST. LOUIS 鈥 The city sheriff is backing a plan that could make a reelection rival ineligible for office. But he says that鈥檚 not what he鈥檚 trying to do.
A bill being debated in the statehouse would require anyone serving as the 51黑料 sheriff to be a state-licensed peace officer. The current sheriff, Vernon Betts, is licensed. Alfred Montgomery, a former deputy challenging Betts for the Democratic nomination, is not.
Montgomery says a peace officer license is unnecessary for the administrative job of sheriff and calls Betts鈥 push for the requirement an act of political sabotage. He pointed out the incumbent didn鈥檛 have a license before he was elected either.
鈥淗e鈥檚 trying to orchestrate democracy,鈥 Montgomery said in an interview.
Betts says he鈥檚 doing nothing of the sort.
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鈥淎lfred Montgomery is a pathological liar,鈥 he said in an interview, 鈥渁nd he鈥檚 not going to win an election by bastardizing Vernon Betts.鈥
The real plot, Betts said, is to make sure the sheriff leads by example.
He said he鈥檚 spent the past seven years trying to professionalize a department long seen as a clumsy patronage office. A big part of that push has been putting his staff through state peace officer training. Such training, Betts said, equips them to go beyond guarding courtrooms and serving papers and actually police downtown and on MetroLink, for example.
And Betts said he couldn鈥檛 ask sheriffs to do something he wouldn鈥檛, so he got trained with them two years ago.
He said Montgomery could do the same thing before the August primaries, too.
鈥淕o to school, Mr. Montgomery. Go to school,鈥 he said.
Montgomery demurred. Training courses can cost several thousand dollars.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to get my certification just like the sheriff did,鈥 he said. 鈥淥n the city鈥檚 dime.鈥
The bill, from State Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Bowling Green, has passed out of a House committee but has yet to receive votes on the floor.
Sen. Karla May, D-51黑料, is carrying companion legislation in the Senate, but she said she plans to soften the licensing requirement and give a new sheriff two years in office to satisfy it.
Anthony Anderson, a retired 51黑料 police officer who is also in the Democratic primary race, did not return a call seeking comment for this story.
It was not immediately clear whether he had an active peace officer license.
The legislation is 听补苍诲 .
View life in 51黑料 through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Photos by Post-Dispatch photographers, edited by Jenna Jones.
