Festus has seen many changes in three years

(Festus) Over the past few years, there have been many administrative changes in the City of Festus. Most recently current Festus Police Captain Doug Wendel was named the future Chief of Police as current Chief Tim Lewis will retire in May. Prior to that, Jeff Broombaugh was named the Festus Fire Chief to replace Travis Wood who was fired in August. Wood was the replacement for Chief Kevin Craemer who passed away in January. Festus Mayor Sam Richards says he and the city council stayed busy replacing other positions as well.

In 2020, Festus Parks Superintendent Larry Crites passed away and was eventually replaced by Josh Whaley. Also in 2020, Mark Harris, who was the building department foreman, was named the building and planning director, and Matt Unrein was hired as the Festus Public Works Director replacing Matt Clemens who resigned and took a similar position in Sarasota, Florida. Also, Barb Lowry was named the newly created Director of Tourism and Recreation Director position at the end of 2020.