The Probation and Parole District 33 Office
located at 1845 LaQuesta Drive in Neosho, Missouri.
The Probation and Parole District 33 Office
located at 1845 LaQuesta Drive in Neosho, Missouri.
by Rick Robinson, District Administrator
District 33 is located in the beautiful southwest Missouri community of Neosho, located on the eastern edge of the Ozarks and currently services both Newton and McDonald counties. We are the last two counties in southwest Missouri and border all three states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas. The northern part of this district also includes a portion of the city limits of Joplin. This provides a diverse population of clientele, as well as, a large amount of interstate traffic. To our south we have the fast growing community of Northwest Arkansas, thanks to Wal-Mart and to the west we enjoy the Indian Nation Casinos.
The District 33 office is located at 1845 LaQuesta Dr. Neosho, MO and this building was initially opened as a satellite office for District 9 in March 2000 and was being supervised by Lead Unit Supervisor John Getchell (now with the Federal Medical Center in Springfield). It functioned as such until January 1, 2003 when District Administrator Ed Davis and Regional Administrator Tom Heddy (now retired) sought to have us designated as District 33. We are located in the former Southwest Region, now referred to as Region III and are fortunate to be under the direction of Regional Administrator Dardi Smith. We currently supervise approximately 860 offenders. We have a total of 12 officers, a PO III , one Unit Supervisor and 2.5 clerical. An identifying characteristic of this office is the experience and age of our staff. We have an average of 10 years experience and an average age of 51. Obviously, we have had very little turnover, however, some day soon we will probably all retire at once.
In this district we have specialty case loads. Randy Fisher supervises all of the EMP offenders for both counties and maintains a partial regular caseload. Marie Lands is our SARS writer for both counties and our Interstate specialist. Merrilyn Terry is our Sex Offender Specialist for both Newton and McDonald Counties and the district Safety Officer. Laura Gulick is or Drug Court Officer and supervises offenders for the Newton County Drug Court and the McDonald County Court as well. Laura just recently took over this position after Karen Cole was promoted to the newly created PO III position. In addition to her new duties as a PO III, Karen is now supervising our minimum caseload.
We have three full time officers in McDonald County and they work out of a sub office located in Anderson, MO. Nancy Manire supervises a regular caseload and is our Liaison to the McDonald County Court. She is also our UA coordinator. Matt Merrill supervises a regular caseload in McDonald County and serves as our Absconder Specialist for both counties. Our newest hire is Eric Mitchell and he is being assigned to a McDonald County caseload, however, he will be leaving for DOC Basic Training on December 31st. Happy New Year, Eric.
In Newton County, we have 5 full time officers. We have our counties divided up geographically, and in the north, including the city limits of Joplin, Linda Rasmussen supervises a regular caseload and is one of our Pathways to Change facilitators. In addition, Linda is our RSVP representative. To the east, David Bunch supervises a regular caseload and also serves as a regional representative to the MPPOA. On the west side of the county, Heather Merrill supervises a regular caseload and not only serves as a Pathways to Change facilitator, but was instrumental in setting up the program in this district. Within the Neosho city limits and surrounding area, we have Audra Marion who supervises a regular caseload and is our resources liaison for the THUs. Ted Heflin is now supervising a regular caseload, however, he recently gave up the Minimum caseload after having supervised it since we became automated.
Our Unit Supervisor is Randy Burnett and he is supervising 8 officers. He also serves on the statewide EMP Committee. Randy has a lot of experience with EMP and at one time was supervising EMP for all of the District 9 counties, before Districts 30 and 33 split off. Once again, our new PO III is Karen Cole and she is supervising 4 officers along with a minimum caseload. Before her promotion Karen was supervising all of the Drug Court cases having inherited this caseload from Lauren Cory, after she deserted us for District 9.
Our SOSA is Sandy Larkin. She has been with this district since the beginning, however, is spreading rumors of retirement within the next year. Our OSA and receptionist is Kelly Morgan. Kelly has been with us less than a year, but is learning the job very quickly. Our half time OSA is Etta Speer. Etta came to us after giving up the SOSA position with district 9. We are now hearing rumors of her retiring as well. Learn quickly Kelly.
For the past 3 years we have hosted Victims Week celebrations in both Newton and McDonald Counties. Marie Lands has been responsible for scheduling these celebrations, and along with Courtney Carpenter (another District 9 deserter) has obtained donations from local businesses to help with the celebration and in memory of Victims. These celebrations have been well received locally and attended by local authorities and covered by local media. Our drug courts have been involved and served refreshments. This district received national recognition this past year in the ACA publications for our involvement with these celebrations.
District 33 has been involved with the Pathway's to Change program, and has completed three 12 week programs in the past year. Both Heather Merrill and Linda Rasmussen have been presenting this program and it has received very positive feedback from Offenders. Our fourth consecutive program is scheduled to begin on January 18, 2008.
This District is a part of the Jasper/Newton County Alliance of Southwest Missouri. This is the MRP Steering committee that is dedicated to involving the community in the re-entry process for offenders returning to our communities.
The past 2 years our staff have voted to send care packages to our troops in Iraq for Christmas. Prior to that our staff have taken up donations for local families in need and presented them with gifts. I am proud of not only our staff and their dedication to the agency but also their involvement in the local community.