Bill unites Missouri State Water and Highway patrols

Gov. Jay Nixon signed House Bill 1868 Wednesday unifying the Missouri State Water Patrol and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

No reductions will be made to the amount of officers in either group, but the bill is expected to produce $3 million annually in administrative savings.

“The unification of the Water Patrol and the Highway Patrol really is about rethinking the way state government works to make it more efficient, more responsive and more responsible to the taxpayers of Missouri,” Nixon said in a news release. “We will preserve the full number of badges on the waterways and on the roads, as well as all of our law enforcement capabilities, but the change will allow us to eliminate bureaucracy and administrative overlap."

House Bill 1868, sponsored by Rep. Dwight  Scharnhorst, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

Water Patrol has more than 90 sworn officers, while the Highway Patrol has approximately 1,060 sworn members and 1,140 civilian employees.[[In-content Ad]]