DIVAS hosted Public Administrator
Published 5:00 am Wednesday, October 14, 2026
DIVAS received the call: “Spread the news. The Dallas County public administrator elected official job will be open for the next term. In two years, current administrator Carol Johnson will be retiring.”
Who better than an educational networking group to spread the word and find the perfect candidate to run for office? While the official qualifications are to live in Dallas County and be a registered voter, the job requires much more experience. By getting the word out early, the community can help the best candidates rise to the top.
Johnson wants a candidate who is knowledgeable and organized and understands the full scope of the job. In other Missouri counties, newly elected administrators have quit in less than six months because they took the job without fully understanding the complete picture.
She explains that this job has to come from the heart. Clients need someone to watch over them because they have no one else. Each client is unique, with different needs for housing, medical care, and financial management.
Client conditions range from Alzheimer’s, personality disorders, schizophrenia, and intellectual disabilities with low IQ. A wide range of services exists, but processes vary by situation. Because Dallas County has few services, residential placements are made in other counties; Johnson serves clients across the state.
State statutes for public administration were established in the late 1800s to care for widows and orphans. Over the decades, the job has changed. Johnson becomes the client’s guardian through the courts, where a petition removes the person’s rights.
Johnson works with agencies, hospitals, and families to find support and living arrangements. The mental health system makes it hard to get services approved, and Johnson fights for her clients every day.
Many clients also have a conservatorship. The Office of Public Administration manages their assets and financial affairs.
Johnson also serves as a personal representative for folks who can’t settle their own estates. This process often takes time.
When she started this job 17 years ago, she was assigned 29 clients. Fourteen are still with her today, and two others were restored and taken off guardianship. Today, 69 people are on the roll, along with 122 letters and 50 conservatorships.
Jan Stoner, her assistant, handles the accounting and works in the office. Clients can only have $2,000 in their account, and a watchful eye keeps these accounts in order.
Johnson’s goal is to provide a good quality of life for each person. The client’s account is reviewed quarterly, and some are reviewed more frequently. Each person has an annual review, and she handles an average of six a month.
“Simply, Carol helps people,” Stoner commented.
She explained that the work is more a mission than a job for Johnson, and she truly cares for each client. She juggles apartment programs and support groups, navigates state and federal organizations, manages special needs trusts and Medicare, and monitors medical progress.
She added, “Carol’s care is paramount. Finding resources is sometimes the struggle, and the job is stressful.”
Johnson has volunteered with an organization where public administrators work together to expand services statewide. During her tenure, she worked with Senator Sandy Crawford to update statutes and make the law workable in their profession. She rose to the presidency of the group and served residents of the state and Dallas County.
She explained that while the job is very rewarding, it is also exhausting. You fight the system all day long for those who can’t, and you go to bed fully fatigued. Yet Johnson gets up every day and does it again because she cares.
The job is emotionally draining. Because of this, she wants candidates to understand everything the job involves; other counties have lost administrators who quit within weeks or months after they didn’t understand what they were getting into.
She invites questions from potential candidates, but warns, “Use my voicemail. I’ll always get back in touch. My days are full; I’m a bit busy.”
To contact her, call 417-345-2244 or 417-345-5899.
DIVAS meets again at 8 a.m. on October 28 at Expresso Company, No. 825, Buffalo, where Sleep In Heavenly Peace is the guest presenter.
