JEFFERSON CITY, MO. ? Because of budget cuts, the state has stopped inspections of all 638 dams it regulates, instead requiring dam owners to hire private engineers to check for potential safety problems.

The cutbacks mark a reversal for Missouri, which started employing dam inspectors about 15 years ago partly because some private inspectors had overlooked or inflated the severity of safety problems, said Jim Alexander, the state’s chief engineer for dam safety.

“There were people inventing problems so they could get more money to fix them, and others just doing drive-by-inspections and not really assessing the problem adequately,” Alexander, the water resources director for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said Wednesday. “We’ll be trying to guard the situation to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Of Missouri’s 638 dams, 444 are considered high-hazard because there is downstream development, such as homes or businesses. Many also are approaching 50 years of age, making them especially vulnerable to deterioration if not properly maintained and repaired, Alexander said.

Most of the biggest dams are inspected and regulated by the federal government, and small agricultural dams are not subject to regulation in Missouri. The state program covers all other dams at least 35 feet tall.

Although many states employ inspectors for dams under their jurisdiction, a few already require private engineering inspections, including neighboring Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma. More states may be moving in that direction.

“With the budget cuts in states right now, it’s gotten to be really bad. … A lot of them don’t have the staff they need to get out and do the inspections,” said Sarah Mayfield, a spokeswoman for the Lexington, Ky.-based Association of State Dam Safety Officials.

Missouri saved about $107,000 by eliminating its two positions for dam safety inspectors during the fiscal year that started July 1. The department mailed letters to dam owners earlier this month explaining that they would now have to hire private inspectors.

One of Missouri’s dam inspectors had resigned last October and the other retired in June, making the positions an easier target for elimination.

The state began regulating dams in 1979, partly because of an early indication from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inspection program that Missouri led the country in the number of unsafe dams at that time.