SEDALIA – More than three years after this newspaper broke the story – “Deadbeat Missouri? State claims ‘balanced budget,’ but in arrears to county jail fees” – the state has paid the debt. The January 2018 story recounted how the state had fallen behind on repaying counties across Missouri for the cost to house inmates in jails. The state owed Greene County alone $2 million; Clay County, $500,000; and rural Ray County, $268,000. The total debt statewide came to $31 million. While at the Missouri State Fair on Aug. 19, state Rep. Peggy McGaugh said the state had paid the debt in full. “It was wonderful news,” she said. “During the budget negotiations, one time it was in (the budget), next month it was out, and so myself and several other former county officials … in the legislature … worked really hard to make sure that money stayed.” The General Assembly in previous years failed to provide enough money to pay the debt, Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe stated in…