Lawrence County, Missouri

County news

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Elevator at Historic Courthouse being refurbished

 

The elevator at the Historic Courthouse will be out of service approximately three weeks starting around April 15. The equipment is being completely refurbished. Phone numbers of each of the upper floor offices will be posted at the handicapped entry (north side) so visitors can call and arrange whatever services are needed. Those unable to call can go to the assessor's office on the ground level and ask them to call.

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Offices of the county clerk, collector, recorder of deeds, county commission and treasurer are one floor up. The Mt. Vernon License Office and Fred G. Mieswinkel Research Room are two floors up. Phone numbers for all the offices are listed on this web site. The collector and recorder both have some online services available.

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Riebe announces official election results for county

 

Lawrence County Clerk Tammy Riebe has released official results of the April 2, 2024, election in Lawrence County, Missouri, including results of write-ins. Just over 10 percent of the county's registered voters cast ballots in the election.

 

Groundbreaking held for new health department

 

Lawrence County broke ground Thursday, Nov. 2, on a $5.3 million health department building on Missouri Drive. The ceremony was held at the building site at 1549 Missouri Drive, Mt. Vernon. The new health department is made possible by Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received by Lawrence County.

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(Scenes and details from the Nov. 2 groundbreaking.)

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The construction cost includes the building, sitework and a 40x60 outbuilding that the county will share with emergency management. It will be located south of the new 911 center constructed by the Lawrence County Emergency Services Board, and the Law Enforcement Center currently under construction by the county. The county purchased the three-acre site from the City of Mt. Vernon for $1 in September 2021.

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Esterly Schneider & Associates is the architect for the health department. Branco Enterprises is construction manager at risk.

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The health department has occupied a 6,000-square-foot converted grocery store at 105 W. North St. since 1995. It previously was housed in less than a thousand square feet in the courthouse basement. It is operated with county general revenue and grants.

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Construction under way on Law Enforcement Center

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Brief groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Lawrence County Law Enforcement Center were held Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, at the building site at 1525 Missouri Drive, Mt. Vernon.

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The $22 million facility will bring sheriff’s office operations together under one roof and replace the current 1984 jail with a modern, more efficient 120-bed detention center. It is designed to allow two future 96-bed expansions. Voters approved a 3/8-cent sales tax last year to finance the construction. Elevatus Architecture designed the facility; and Nabholz Construction is construction manager at risk.

 

Notice of Use Tax

 

(Lawrence County Clerk Tammy Riebe, Sept. 20, 2021) Lawrence County, Missouri previously adopted a use tax, which is currently in effect. A use tax is the equivalent of a sales tax on purchases made from out-of-state vendors by in-state buyers and on certain taxable business transactions. The use tax rate for Lawrence County is currently 2.125 percent which is equal to the total local sales tax rate. Certain purchases from out-of-state vendors will become subject to an expansion of the use tax effective on January 1, 2023, as provided by state law.

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If any local sales tax is repealed or the rate is reduced or raised by voter approval, the local use tax rate shall also be deemed to be repealed, reduced, or raised by the same action.

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I, Tammy Riebe, County Clerk for Lawrence County, Missouri, do hereby certify that the foregoing is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, correct. Dated this 3rd day of September 2021.

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Census Bureau puts county's population at 38,001

 

The U.S. Census Bureau puts Lawrence County's 2020 population at 38,001, slightly below the 2010 figure of 38,634. However, another indicator suggests more people are living in Lawrence County than did in 2010. There has been a 1.4 percent increase in individual and household personal property assessment lists returned to the county assessor in the same time period.

 

The Census Bureau ranks Lawrence County as 31st in population in Missouri's listing of 114 counties and the City of St. Louis.

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Lawrence County experienced population drops in 1910, 1920, 1930, 1950 and 1960; but it recorded steady growth from 1960 through 2010.

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