Sergeant Dennis W. Smith has been the Jail Administrator for the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department since June 2003.  Dennis received his POST Certification through the Police Training Institute at Jefferson College.  He oversees a staff of 21 commissioned deputies in the county jail which has the capacity to hold 170+ inmates and has its own kitchen and medical staff.  Dennis is a POST certified instructor and he is a certified Taser X-26 Instructor, state certified Livescan Instructor, and MULES certified; additionally he has various training through the U.S. Army.  Dennis is a member of the American Jail Association and Missouri Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

 Dennis is a magna cum laude graduate from Campbell University in North Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.  He also attended Webster University working on his MBA. Dennis is community active and worked on numerous boards of directors, advisory boards, and committees. 

Dennis is serving his third term on the Farmington City Council and has served on the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission.  He currently serves on the advisory committees of Upward Bound and EXCEL at Mineral Area College and is a board member and past president of the United Way of St. Francois County.  Dennis is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5896, AMVETS Post 113, and American Legion Post 416. Dennis is also a retired active Army Airborne First Sergeant serving 23 years in various positions around the world.  Some of these assignments included the 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, KY; Mannheim, West Germany; Army Recruiting, Muncie, IN; US Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN; Defense Intelligence College, Washington DC; Defense Intelligence Agency with duty at the American Embassies in Lagos, Nigeria and Nicosia, Cyprus; Joint Special Operations Command (Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC; Defense Intelligence Agency with duty at the American Embassy, Beirut, Lebanon; 20th Engineer Brigade, (Combat) (Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC; and the 18th Personnel Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC. He was deployed to Operation Desert Shield/Storm in the Middle East with the Joint Special Operations Command (Airborne) and to Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti with the 18th Personnel Group (Airborne). Some of his military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards); Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards); Joint Service Commendation Medal (2 awards); Army Commendation Medal (3 awards); Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal; Air Force Achievement Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Southwest Asia Service Medal (with 2 bronze stars); Humanitarian Service Medal; and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia & Kuwait).  He has also earned the Army Parachutist Badge, Gold Recruiting Badge, and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. 

 His military schools include the Basic Leadership Course (Distinguished Graduate), US Military Academy Preparatory School, Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical NCO Course, Small Arms Course, Army Recruiting Course, Station Commander Course, Staff and Faculty/Training Development Course, Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course, Attaché Staff Operations and Station Techniques Course, Operations Coordinator Management Course, Airborne School, Individual Terrorism Awareness Course, High Risk Personnel Course, and the Pre-Command Course.  

Dennis lives with his wife, Pattie (a stained-glass artist), in Farmington.  They have two children, Jacob and Sara.  Jacob is a former Infantryman and Chinese linguist in the U.S. Army.  He now works for a defense contractor and is married with three step-daughters and lives in Annapolis, Maryland.  Sara is married with two daughters and lives in Farmington and she attends Central Methodist University.