KIRKSVILLE, MO -- The budget is in, and that means changes are in store for the Adair County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Bob Hardwick says he's happy with the finalized budget thanks to funds brought in with the law enforcement sales tax that was passed in April.
    
The budget allows for the Sheriff's Department to hire a handful of new employees.

“I'll be able to hire eight additional folks here for the Sheriff's Office, six of those would be road deputies. I'm able to get three more vehicles and a full-time bookkeeper, and a full-time janitorial maintenance employee, which this building has never had,” Hardwick said.

Hardwick tells KTVO the department is in the process of taking applications for the positions. New deputies will be required to take a written test, which is something else that the Sheriff's Department has never done before.