New sheriff discusses transition, his goals for first year in office

While appreciative for the groundwork his predecessor David Millsap laid for his term, Laclede County Sheriff Matt Frederick is planning his own path for his first year in office. Frederick took office Jan.1 after being elected in November. Frederick was grateful for the smooth transition Millsap facilitated. He noted that he learned in a new sheriffs training with 41 other departments that that was not always the case. “There were a lot of agencies that were in complete turmoil this time of the year because they were getting somebody new, possibly from a hostile takeover, and they came into an agency that just was not running smooth,” Frederick said. One of the challenges that Frederick will face, he notes, comes simply from being in the driver’s seat of the office for the first time. He said that he felt confident in the role as he learned the ropes with Millsap but that it would still be a learning experience now that his mentor was gone. With the Laclede County Emergency Communications Center now under the control of new 911 Director James Falls and the 911 Advisory Board (of which Frederick is a member), Frederick will turn his focus towards improving mental health services in the jail. By collaborating with local sobriety organizations, Frederick hopes to provide them and similar organizations with a venue to provide their services as well as to provide inmates with the services they need to make smoother transitions back into society. For more on this story, see Wednesday's LCR.