Bottom line: If you were stopped or arrested by the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department (SFCSD) and expect that there will be video evidence from a dash camera or body camera, you are wrong. SFCSD has no dash cameras in any of their vehicles; and although it recently obtained body worn cameras (BWC), they had not been deployed as of March 24, 2026 — so all stops and arrests before that date (and probably after it) have no body cam evidence. See below for more details.

I. The Power of Rule 57.03(b)(4)

I’ve posted about Rule 57.03(b)(4) Depos (applicable in criminal cases via Rule 25.12). I think it is a potent but underutilized tool which requires an organization to designate a representative to testify. The testimony is binding upon the organization, effectively locking the department into a specific version of its policies, hardware capabilities, and retention practices.

Other posts regarding other Law Enforcement Agencies from Rule 57.03(b)(4) depositions:

• Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s Department (SGCSD) [pending]
• Farmington Police Department (FPD)
• Bismarck Police Department (BPD)
• St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department (SFCSD) [this post]

II. Deposition Topics:

In a recent deposition involving the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department (SFCSD), I had three “General Topics” that were relevant to my client: 

• Topic A: Body Cameras: Hardware, deployment, triggers, training, retention.
• Topic B: Dash Cameras: Hardware, deployment, triggers, training, retention.
• Topic C: Booking Area and Recording: Hardware, audio/visual capabilities, and data retention within the detention center.

III. Key Findings

A. Body Cameras: Pending Deployment in March 2026

Pending Deployment: As of March 24, 2026, the SFCSD body cameras, recently obtained through a grant from Blue Shield, Missouri Department of Public
Safety, were not yet deployed.

As noted in another post (here), body cams not mandated in Missouri.

Here is another post (here) regrading other state camera mandates.

Cameras: The department took receipt of 40 Motorola V700 units approximately two weeks prior to the deposition on March 24, 2026.

Manual Triggers: The cameras will be manually operated via a power button. They will not automatically trigger based on vehicle speed or weapon withdrawal because the department’s current holsters are not compatible with the necessary Bluetooth technology.

TBD: Because the program was under development, I did not inquire about cloud storage, training, video retention, because it was not relevant to my case (i.e., no body cameras were use when my client was arrested. For cases occurring before April/May 2026, it is confirmed that no SFCSD body cam footage exists.

B. Dash Cameras: None

None/Zero Inventory: The SFCSD currently has no dash cameras in any of its vehicles.

Again, as noted in another post (here), dash cams are not mandated in Missouri.

Here is another post (here) regrading other state camera mandates.

C. Booking Area Video Evidence

Coverage of Booking Area: There are 12 Samsung (Model QNV-6082R) cameras in the booking and holding areas. These are fixed cameras that cover the booking counter and inside cells.

No Audio: Crucially, these cameras are strictly video only; there is no audio recording capability in the booking area.

Limited Manipulation: While the cameras have digital pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) features, these can only be utilized at the time of recording from the central control area. PTZ cannot be performed on recorded footage during later review.

Standard Retention: There are two servers. One in Central Control which stores recordings for 60 days. That would be for all jail cameras minus the medical area and COVID area. There is a separate system installed when those two areas were built. Those cameras are on that system/server only. They store footage for 34 days.

Evidence “Burning”: If a crime occurs (e.g., assault or contraband), supervisors “burn” the footage to a separate file to be held until court proceedings are concluded.

Custodian of Records: While Rhonda Grosberg is the official Custodian of Records for Sunshine Law/report requests, the IT Department maintains direct contact with the servers.