FRANKLIN COUNTY (KFSM) -- The words “In God We Trust” are being placed on vehicles at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
“I think it is great,” Deputy Mason Berry said Saturday (Sept. 19).
Berry’s vehicle was the first to have a sticker added to it, and he said it is already getting people's attention.
“A lady stopped me yesterday when I was getting fuel,” Berry said. “She said that she really appreciated us putting it on the vehicles. So -- so far -- nothing but good feedback.”
Rena Lawson lives in the county and likes the new addition.
"I think that those people risk their lives every day for our safety," Lawson said. "And I think we need to be for them and praying for them daily."
Other law enforcement agencies in Missouri, Florida, Illinois Kentucky and North Carolina are putting similar decal stickers on agency vehicles.
“We have had a lot of people from the public ask about it and some of the deputies wanted it, and so we just thought it would be a neat thing to do," Franklin County Sheriff Anthony Boen said. "It seems they are taking God out of everything. We want to give God the glory and put it on our vehicles."
The sheriff's office will be putting the decals on all their marked vehicles in the next two weeks.
Not everyone agreed with the decision. One comment reads in part, “Statements about a god have no place on government-owned cars.”
For those who may not agree with the decision, the sheriff said he has a message.
“Sorry -- it's on there and it's going to stay,” Boen said. “So as long as I’m sheriff, it's going to stay on our vehicles."
Boen said he offered to pay for the stickers with his own money, but Tori’s Sign Shop in Alma donated them to his office.
“In God We Trust” has been the official motto of the United States since 1956.