KCTV5 investigative reporter Samantha Boring opens her report with a number that’s hard to brush off: eight months, zero DWI arrests tied to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
In a place where most people assume impaired driving enforcement is routine, that kind of gap doesn’t just look odd – it looks dangerous.
Boring says former deputies in Carroll County, Missouri claim the reason is simple and alarming. They allege the sheriff told them to stop arresting impaired drivers, and to handle those stops in other ways that don’t end with a DWI case in court.
What makes Boring’s reporting hit harder is the setting. She describes Carroll County as small – under 8,500 people – and she includes a blunt local assessment from an ex-deputy: “It’s a good ol’ boy county.”
“Don’t Write DWIs Anymore”
Boring speaks to two former deputies who request anonymity, using the names “John” and “Steve” to protect their careers. They describe a workplace culture they say became hostile whenever they treated drunk driving like the serious crime it is.
“John” tells Boring the message from the top was basically: if you find a drunk driver, call someone else or have the driver call for a ride. That’s not “officer discretion,” that’s a policy choice – one that shifts risk from the driver to everyone else on the road.
“Steve” gives Boring an even sharper quote. He says the sheriff told them he’d rather they deal with a “10-50” – a crash – than deal with a DWI.
That line is the kind of thing that makes your stomach drop, because it flips priorities upside down. A crash is what DWI enforcement is supposed to prevent, not what deputies should accept as the easier option.
Boring reports “Steve” also describes a staff meeting where the instruction was blunt: don’t write DWIs anymore, write careless and imprudent driving tickets and go home. If that’s true, it’s not just leniency – it’s a deliberate downgrade of the offense.
And if it isn’t true, then the obvious question becomes: why do two former deputies independently describe the same basic policy shift?
The Sheriff And The Numbers
Boring identifies the sheriff as William Jewell McCoy, who has served in the role for more than five years. In the report, McCoy pushes back on the allegations and denies telling deputies to stop DWI enforcement.
McCoy tells Boring that if his deputies stop a vehicle and the driver is under the influence, “they get brought in.” That sounds like standard policing.
But then Boring lays out the public record trail she spent weeks digging through, and the story gets messy. She reports that since April 16, 2025, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office has not had a single DWI case in the court system.
Boring also notes county records showing DWI numbers dropping compared to last year. She reports that in 2024, the department had 16 DWI calls, and in 2025, only nine.
That’s where the public safety concern kicks in. Drinking patterns in a county don’t usually change overnight, and drunk driving doesn’t politely disappear because a calendar flips to a new year.
Boring’s work suggests the key issue may not be whether drunk drivers exist—it’s whether the sheriff’s office is turning those encounters into arrest cases that actually enter the court pipeline.
“We Just Ain’t Catching No DWI Offenders”
Boring describes weeks of effort trying to get McCoy on camera. She says her team reached out for about three weeks, got a couple responses early on, and then he stopped responding.
So Boring goes to Carroll County to ask directly, and she captures the exchange. When she asks why there haven’t been any DWI cases since April, McCoy initially says he has “no comment.”
But Boring reports he begins talking more once she shows him the records her team obtained. McCoy acknowledges the “none since April” point and responds with a claim that sounds like disbelief disguised as an explanation: “People here, we just ain’t catching no DWI offenders.”
That’s the kind of statement that might fly if Carroll County were a dry community with empty bars and no alcohol. But Boring’s own reporting includes the opposite vibe—former deputies describing heavy drinking culture, with one saying, “Drinking is a sport, everybody drinks.”
McCoy also tells Boring the allegations are a lie. When asked why his office hasn’t had DWI cases in court, he says, essentially, you don’t stop a vehicle every day.
Sure. But Boring’s point isn’t that deputies must find a DWI daily. Her point is that eight months of zero court cases doesn’t look like “normal fluctuations.” It looks like an intentional absence.
DWIs Are Happening, Just Not From His Deputies
Boring adds a crucial wrinkle that keeps this from being a simple “no one is getting arrested” story. She reports there have been DWI cases in Carroll County since late April – just not filed by the sheriff’s office.
According to the state records Boring cites, there have been 19 DWI cases in the county since the end of April. Seven were handled by the Carrollton Police Department, and 12 were handled by the Missouri Highway Patrol.
So drunk driving didn’t vanish. Enforcement didn’t vanish. What vanished, according to Boring’s reporting, was the sheriff’s office showing up in the court record as the arresting agency.
That’s a big deal, because the sheriff’s office is one of the main law enforcement bodies in the county. If they’re not enforcing DWI laws, the burden shifts to other agencies, and that can create gaps – especially on rural roads where response times already aren’t great.
And if you’re a resident, you’re not thinking, “Well, hopefully the highway patrol catches him.” You’re thinking, “Why is the local agency stepping back?”
MADD Complaints And A Prosecutor’s Email
Boring reports this story came to light after Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Missouri received multiple anonymous complaints saying deputies were no longer allowed to make DWI arrests. That’s not just random gossip; it’s the kind of complaint that lands because people think it involves bodies on highways, not paperwork in an office.
Boring interviews Tabitha Perkins, the executive director of MADD Missouri. Perkins tells Boring the alleged policy runs against “everything that MADD is here for.”
Perkins says MADD opened an investigation into the complaints and raised the concerns with the sheriff’s office. Perkins tells Boring that McCoy assured them his department was following Missouri policies and that deputies had the tools to arrest impaired drivers.
Boring presses McCoy on those tools, specifically breath tests. McCoy tells her the breath tests are available at the office, and deputies can use them if they want to.
Then Boring introduces another pressure point: the prosecutor pipeline. She explains that when a deputy processes a DWI, it can be the sheriff’s responsibility to get the paperwork to the prosecutor’s office.
Boring reports the former deputies claim the sheriff didn’t follow through. “Steve” says too many DWI cases never got charged for it to be a coincidence.
Boring then brings in Carroll County Prosecutor Cassandra Brown, who responds via email. Brown says she reviews DWI cases the same way: she checks whether the initial stop was legal and whether the investigation was done properly, and if both check out, she files charges.
But Brown adds a line that quietly hits like a hammer: since April 1, 2025, she has not declined to prosecute any DWI cases from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department.
Boring follows up with McCoy by email: does that mean your office hasn’t sent a DWI case since April 1? Boring reports she did not get a response.
That silence matters, because it leaves the public stuck between two explanations: either deputies aren’t arresting drunk drivers, or arrests aren’t getting forwarded into the charging process.
Neither option is reassuring.
What This Means For Public Safety
Boring ends her report with the former deputies calling for the Missouri Attorney General to get involved. “John” says he believes in justice, but “correct justice,” and “Steve” says the sheriff was elected to enforce the law, not “coddle criminals.”
KCTV5, through Boring, says they reached out to the Missouri Attorney General’s office and were still waiting to hear back.
McCoy’s final word to Boring is a broad reassurance: “We deal with these drunk drivers just like we do everybody else.”
But Boring’s reporting shows why many viewers won’t find that satisfying. When the official line is “we’re enforcing the law,” yet the court record shows zero DWI cases from the sheriff’s office for months, people are going to wonder what’s happening behind the scenes.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth: in drunk driving enforcement, the cost of confusion isn’t just political embarrassment. The cost can be a family meeting flashing lights on the side of a road at 2 a.m., asking how a crash happened when everyone “knew” someone shouldn’t have been driving.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
