Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
As The Maries County Advocate enters its third year reporting on the city of Belle’s Sunshine Law missteps, officials continue their attempts to limit information within the boundaries of the law.
The Maries County Advocate made a social media post on Sept. 20, 2022, notifying the public that the Belle Board of Aldermen voted to cancel the city’s police services contract with the county immediately. After, the city’s mayor stated they were looking for ways to control how the press gathers information.
“It really put The Advocate on the wrong side of the council. Every councilman has individually contacted me today to explore policies of the council and the newspaper. Or the press, I’m not saying the newspaper. We’ve come down to even, with COVID regulations, if we have to allow your recorder on our desks anymore. You really went the wrong direction last night,” said the former city of Belle mayor Daryl White, Jr., on Sept. 21, 2022.
The Advocate’s Facebook post notified the public that a police contract between the city and the county was canceled during a budget workshop and more information would be forthcoming soon. No members of the public were present at the meeting and the contract was not listed as an agenda item. The Maries County Sheriff’s Office provided police services for the city and that entity was unaware that the contract would be debated during the budget workshop.
I was unable to attend the meeting, so I dropped off a recorder. Budget workshops don’t typically include motions and votes. The clerk returned the recorder to me the following afternoon and emailed me the minutes.
By the time The Advocate notified the public that the contract was canceled, the open meeting was already 24 hours past, but White hadn’t informed the sheriff’s office of the board’s vote yet. He felt a 72-hour hold on the minutes should have prevented the newspaper from reporting the board’s vote — a measure that only applies to 610.021.3 - records, when closed: Personnel.
The mayor said the newspaper overstepped. According to him, the board began investigating ways to delay or prevent the newspaper from collecting information.
“I don’t have to produce minutes for 72 hours,” White said. “So from now on, I’m not going to produce any minutes for 72 hours.”
Under White’s administration, the board said all communication should go through the mayor. Someone other than the clerk began posting meeting notices and not informing the newspaper. Or a notice would be posted with the wrong date and time. Information was being withheld such as reasons meetings were being called, agendas were unavailable, and in several instances, the newspaper was not given the courtesy notice of meetings that according to 610.020.1 we should have been receiving.
I sent multiple standing requests to be informed of each meeting at the same time as the board.
White had been appointed to the mayoral office on July 21, 2022, — exactly two months from the date the above conversation took place.
The Advocate staff addressed the board during an open meeting about the missing agendas and meeting notices and why it mattered. Nothing came of those conversations.
In one instance we were told we couldn’t speak during the comments from visitors portion of the meeting, we had to be on the agenda. At another meeting, we requested to be on the agenda and were told no, we could speak during the visitors portion.
These are volunteer boards, which we as a newspaper take into account. The newspaper operates under a policy that after three similar Sunshine Law mistakes brought to the board’s attention, we report the missteps. The Advocate staff and publisher had discussed concerns with:
Suddenly, pulling information from the city required frequent Sunshine Law requests because the board was told they didn’t have to answer the media’s questions, they only had to provide documentation.
Each day, morning and afternoon, I’d check City Hall for meeting postings. I’d take pictures of whatever was posted to be able to keep up with changes.
When something was posted, I asked for more documentation.
The board, for the first time within the clerk’s memory, responded by charging the newspaper for the information — which they are allowed to do by law. If we didn’t ask for the right document or weren’t sure of the exact paperwork we were looking for, it became a fishing expedition.
My colleague and I spent hours trying to collect background information about city meetings, agendas and next steps. We dug and then dug deeper, each time warning the board that if we investigated and found something, we’d have to report on it. Each time, they claimed we were being harsh, looking for problems.
On Sept. 21, 2022, the city requested Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman (who did not run for re-election and left office as of Jan. 1, 2025) come to City Hall to discuss the police services contract. At first, I was invited to attend the meeting. Once the mayor was aware of the Facebook post, he told me I would not be welcome in his office during the meeting.
The Sheriff called the newspaper and asked if I would attend the meeting so the public would be aware of the conversations that would take place.
White changed the meeting to a lunch date, then told me I didn’t need to go to City Hall. When I said I was invited to attend the lunch meeting, the location was changed again to City Hall.
Around noon the same day, the Sheriff, his chief, two aldermen, and the city marshal met outside of City Hall. As they prepared to enter an alderman held the door open.
White stopped the procession before they went inside. Sheriff Heitman insisted the newspaper be present for the conversation citing the secrecy surrounding the cancelation of the contract.
After much discussion, everyone was moved to the board chambers. I was allowed to be present and reported the conversation to the community, further detailing how the city of Belle planned to re-establish the police department and end the contract with the county.
In December 2022, Sheriff Heitman submitted a Sunshine Law complaint to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s Office establishing a pattern of Sunshine Law violations using The Advocate’s articles, alleging the city of Belle’s Board of Aldermen and specifically its mayor had committed innumerable Sunshine Law violations since taking office five months previously.
The Attorney General’s (AG) Office responded six months later in June 2023, to request more information. The AG filed five violations of Missouri Sunshine Law on Dec. 19, 2023, based on their investigations. They settled out of court in June 2024 with a six-month settlement agreement that ended in January 2025.
Without Sunshine Law on my side, meeting notices, agendas, public votes, and especially the right to record meetings would have disabled reporting on these events from the start. Without the Sunshine Law, this story would have ended at the beginning.
Roxie Murphy is a community news reporter with 19 years of experience. She joined Warden Publishing Company in 2012, shortly before graduating from Southeast Missouri State University with a Mass Communications degree. In 2016, Warden Publishing opened the Maries County Advocate, and she accepted the position to work in the Belle community. She is one of Missouri Sunshine Coalition’s 2024 Sunshine Heroes.
