Imagine a state agency with no ability to make decisions on hiring and firing of personnel. That’s what happened for months at the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole, according to testimony at a House hearing today.

The seven-member board – appointed by the governor — decides whether inmates are paroled. But the board chairman also wears another hat: overseeing the sprawling division’s daily operations, including six regions with local district offices.

Gov. Matt Blunt has had trouble keeping the chairman’s post filled. The Senate blocked one nominee and another one quit.

“We were stuck twice in a row,” testified Matt Sturm, legislative liaison for the Department of Corrections. “Everything just ground to a halt. What happens is, we just sit in no man’s land until the governor does something.”

During one such gap, Sturm said a parole officer “had a drug issue” and firing was recommended. But the officer remained on the payroll for nearly two months because no one could act.

The Blunt administration says the answer is HB2051, which would let the Corrections Department director serve as acting chairman or select a chairman from among the board members when the post is vacant.

Chances look good for the bill to gain approval from the House Corrections and Public Institutions Committee. The committee chair, Rep. Van Kelly, R-Norwood, is the bill’s sponsor, and several committee members are co-sponsors.

Not that the agency is in dire need of the bill right now. Blunt may have found someone to provide stability: Veteran Corrections Department administrator Steve Long is the chairman now.