and even transportation and lodging to the kennel to select the dogs. Everyone but the Howell County handler commuted to Boone County every day. He stayed at a hotel here in Columbia, so the grant paid for that too,” Director Smith said. The grant was created to reimburse law enforcement agencies replacing K9s that had been trained to sniff out cannabis. Amendment 3, approved by voters in November 2022, legalized recreational marijuana and allows possession of up to 3 ounces. According to Director Smith, once a dog is trained to detect a scent, it can’t be untrained. Under Article 14 of Missouri’s Constitution, which governs cannabis, “Evidence of marijuana alone, without specific evidence indicating that the marijuana is outside of what is lawful for medical or adult use, cannot be the basis for a search of a patient or non- patient, including their home, vehicle or other property.” Because K9s trained to detect marijuana can’t distinguish between lawful and unlawful amounts, several law enforcement agencies chose to retire their K9s once the law went into effect earlier this year. Joni McCarter, manager of the Department of Public Safety Office of Homeland Security Grants Program, said the one-time grants are funded through State Drug Task Force funds. Agencies weren’t limited on the funds they could request, but the money could only be used to purchase replacement K9s and to cover the cost of training for the dogs and handlers — and agencies had a short time to make those requests. The grant period opened on March 1, 2023, and closed two weeks later on March 14. McCarter said 37 agencies applied; 36 grants were approved. The denied request asked for ineligible items. Anticipating that recreational marijuana would be legal, many K9 training facilities — including Boone County — ended cannabis training around five years ago. “All of these dogs were trained for drug detection — just not cannabis. They were also trained for patrol work — and when we say ‘patrol,’ that means tracking, building searches, and aggression - and they all excelled,” Director Smith said. “They all have their own strengths and weaknesses — one may track a little bit better, and one might detect drugs a little better — but they all are very well-rounded.” He said he anticipates that the change in the law will continue to keep him busy. The next class, which begins in October, also has six teams enrolled; the grant is funding three. Because training doesn’t stop once the teams graduate from the school, the handlers and K9 partners will continue with ongoing maintenance training throughout the whole working life of the dog. “Most of our graduates come back to training between two and four times a month. That means we have class dogs here, and then we have maintenance teams that are always cycling through. It’s kind of like juggling cats sometimes,” Director Smith said with a laugh. “But I love it.”
Chris Smith, Director of K9 Training and Development
More About the Latest K9 Team Grads Audrain County Sheriff Matt Oller said he was the handler for K9 Apollo when they opted to replace their two dogs. Since no one else expressed an interest in handling a law enforcement service dog, he decided to continue. His new partner is Andi, a 1 ½-year-old “wolf’s gray” female German Shepherd from the Czech Republic. She was imported by Shallow Creek Kennels of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania. “When we evaluated dogs, we looked at 16 different dogs, all of which were great performers. I selected Andi based on her drive and energy,” he said. Andi will be one of the very few female dual-purpose police dogs in the area. With the family’s approval, she was named in memory of Audrain County Deputy Sheriff Andy Early, who was critically injured in a duty-related car crash in 1996 and died of his injuries in 2006. Andi will stay by Sheriff Oller’s side, whether he’s working in the office or patrolling. Dwain Shelton at Shelton Seed of rural Centralia and the crew at Graf and Sons in Mexico will donate food for Andi. Derek Chism, a sergeant with the Audrain County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division, said since beginning in law enforcement, his main focus has always been narcotics interdiction. He said he learned early on that a dog trained in narcotics detection could help further his investigations. His partner, Jax, is a 17-month-old male black and tan German Shepherd, also from the Czech Republic. Sgt. Chism said when he saw Jax demo at the kennel, he “liked his work ethic.” Jax Von Graf was named to show appreciation to Marj Graf and the Graf family business, who have been huge
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