By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

Legislation proposed by state Sen. Gary Nodler has two area sheriffs hopping mad, but Nodler says that anger is misplaced.

An amendment being added to a bill at Nodler’s request would bar Jasper or Newton county sheriff’s deputies from doing any routine patrols inside Joplin without the city’s permission.

Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn says the proposal is in response to plans by the Jasper County Emergency Services Board to take over all Joplin’s 911 calls and sever a contract with the city. Two of Dunn’s officers are on the 911 board; his chief deputy is chairman.

In addition, Newton County has announced plans to take over Joplin dispatching responsibilities for parts of the city south of 32nd Street.

“I think it’s a ploy to put pressure on the board not to end the Joplin contract,” said Dunn.

Joplin has filed suit to block the action of the Jasper County board; a hearing is set for June 6.

Nodler said he did not believe Dunn was involved with the 911 issue and said the measure was not directed at that, but toward rumors he had heard that the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department had planned to start patrolling in Joplin.

“If that (Jasper County’s law enforcement) sales tax is making so much they can start patrolling inside Joplin, maybe some money needs to be refunded,” Nodler said. “I can’t imagine either department having the resources to devote to patrolling in the city.”

He said the proposal would bar “regular, routine” patrols by sheriff’s deputies inside the city, but would not bar them “from enforcing the law or making arrests inside the city like they do now.”

Though Nodler said the sheriff legislation was not directed to the 911 situation, he did say that a measure addressing that conflict has been proposed at his request.

That proposal “relates to whether the county 911 board can terminate 911 service without the city’s consent, when the city is in two counties.

“I think there is a larger constitutional question here, whether a county board can take actions affecting a city that’s in two counties,” Nodler said.

That issue came up several years ago in road district legislation, he said, which was vetoed because of questions involving a district with overlapping jurisdictional boundaries.