The Greene County Commission accepted the resignation of Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott Tuesday morning.
President Donald Trump nominated Arnott for U.S. Marshal of the Western District of Missouri, and the Senate confirmed his nomination.
Arnott had been sheriff of Greene County since 2008 and had worked for the sheriff's office for more than two decades before that.
He said leaving the office will be like leaving family because that's what many of them are to him.
"I know their kids," he said. "I was there when their kids were born. I was there for their second marriage or third maybe, who knows? But just a lot of that."
Arnott said he has no regrets about holding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees at the county jail.
"ICE is doing a great job. We have the space, there's a need," he said. "And also, I've got to look at what's best use of the taxpayers' dollars, our local taxpayers' dollars, because what we don't make on income is going to have to be supplemented by you and I at the grocery store at somewhere something has to give, so that is a bonus."
He added that the county jail cannot refuse to take federal detainees. They would have to take them despite the contract, he said, but the contract "ensures transparency and a guarantee for our local government, the amount that it's — that they're going to pay."
Jason Johnson, Greene County's interim sheriff through December 31, 2026, will run for sheriff in the November General Election. He was the only one who applied for the position and has been an employee of the Greene County Sheriff's Office for 29 years. As interim sheriff, his salary is $134,266, according to county spokesman Robert Jehle.
Johnson moved to the table where the commissioners were sitting after they voted to approve his appointment as interim sheriff and invited him to say a few words. As he began speaking, a group of people with the Immigrant Justice Collaborative — a few inside the room and several outside — began chanting "no ICE. No way. End the contract here today." The group was quickly escorted out with Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon saying, "you have no right to disrupt. You have a right to be here. But you do not have a right to disrupt."
The Immigrant Justice Collaborative posted on Facebook Tuesday that it planned to protest at Johnson's swearing-in ceremony Tuesday afternoon.
"We want to show that the people do NOT want ICE in our community," the group wrote.
Commissioner John Russell called Johnson "a very, very qualified applicant."
Johnson has served as a patrol officer, patrol deputy, patrol corporal, patrol sergeant, lieutenant in the patrol operations, sheriff's administrative lieutenant and sheriff's administrative captain at the Greene County Sheriff's Office, according to his resume.
Commissioner Rusty MacLachlan told Arnott that he'd done a good job of putting several people in a position to be able to step up in the absence of the sheriff, "and those people said that Jason Johnson is the guy that they want to follow, and that means a lot."
Johnson described his leadership style as "laid back until it's time to not be laid back. And I'm humble, but I like to get things done."
He said he'll work to make sure those working for the sheriff's office have the best tools and training to do the job to the best of their ability.
Johnson said there will not be any drastic changes at the sheriff's office but there will be some changes. The ICE contract, he said, will stand.
"That decision was made two years ago by Sheriff Arnott," he said, "and I'm going to continue honoring the valid ICE detainers and housing ICE detainees as promised by our contract with federal authorities."
