The office of sheriff is the oldest elected lawman in the Anglo-American tradition — answerable to the county that votes him in, not to a distant appointing authority. Scripture frames the magistrate as God's minister for the public good, and there is a sound conservative case that a sheriff who must face the voters is more accountable than one installed from above. This amendment locks that elected status into the constitution. The fair questions are narrow: whether enshrining the office this way meaningfully protects local accountability or merely freezes the status quo, and whether the carve-outs for the St. Louis jurisdictions are principled or political. For most of Missouri this is a modest, structurally conservative measure.
"For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain."
— Romans 13:4 (KJV)