Paul Boyd was sworn in as the new Montgomery County prosecuting attorney in the afternoon ofOct. 7, bringing in plenty of law enforcement experience to the job. 

Boyd served as the violent crimes team leader for the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office and previously served as a counterdrug coordinator and military judge for the National Guard before retiring after more than 20 years of service. He was also an elected prosecutor in Scott County.

Boyd was appointed by Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe to replace Keith Freie as the county’s prosecuting attorney. Freie was the prosecuting attorney for three years and received the Missouri Prosecutor of the Year award in 2024.

“I knew Keith Freie,” Boyd said. “I heard that he was going to retire, then he retired quickly. So I applied for the position and the Governor chose me to come.”

Boyd has a wife, two boys and three grandchildren. Originally from Clinton County, Boyd grew up in a law enforcement household. His father was a sheriff and his mother was the first female sheriff in the state of Missouri in 1977.

“My dad passed away in office, so my mom took over for three months until the next election,” Boyd said.

Also, when Boyd was a child, Albert Alexander was Clinton County’s judge and the oldest serving judge in the world until he retired at age 105 in July 1965. Boyd said that’s what interested him to get into law enforcement.

“I didn’t want to be my dad,” Boyd said. “I wanted to be the other guy in the courtroom. That’s how I grew up and became a lawyer.”

Boyd earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Boyd is a current member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars service organization, the National Guard Association of the United States and the Missouri Bar Association.

Boyd worked as a judge advocate during his 23.5 years of service with the Missouri National Guard.

“I ended up being deployed twice,” Boyd said. “I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013-14. I also deployed in Kuwait 2017-18, which was kind of a fast turnaround, so that’s what happened.”

Boyd was sworn in by Zac Horack of Sikeston, who is the circuit judge of Scott County. Horack was hired by Boyd to work as prosecuting attorney at Scott County 10 years ago.

“He worked for me and he was there when I was deployed in 17-18,” Boyd said. “He kind of helped hold the ship down with the rest of the staff.”