JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Part of the Belt Highway is all but a technicality away from becoming a memorial to a fallen deputy whose death sparked controversy in Buchanan County last summer.

The Missouri House of Representatives voted 145-0 to rename the Belt Highway (U.S. Highway 169), from Gene Field Road to Frederick Boulevard (Missouri Highway 6), as the Deputy Charles M. Cook Memorial Highway.

Wednesday night’s vote came on the eve of the National Day of Fallen Law Officers. The St. Joseph Fraternal Order of Police will honor Mr. Cook and other Northwest Missouri officers who have died in the line of duty at 7 tonight in Civic Center Park during a candlelight service.

Mr. Cook died from injuries he suffered in an on-duty wreck on June 23, 2007, during a pursuit of a reported erratically driven motorcycle.

The Missouri Department of Transportation will erect and maintain memorial signs along the Belt, but the FOP will pay for them under the bill, which would go into effect Aug. 28.

“I think that’s a fitting honor for someone who served his community and died doing it,” Sheriff Mike Strong said.

Mr. Strong revised department pursuit policy after the death. All citizen ride-alongs now require the sheriff’s approval, and pursuits during ride-alongs are only allowed in extreme circumstances.

St. Joseph Police Department records revealed that Mr. Cook’s brother-in-law was a passenger participating in a citizen ride-along when the early morning wreck occurred. Mr. Cook, who was driving a Dodge Durango, swerved to avoid traffic and crashed near the intersection of the Belt and Sherman Avenue. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

Senators in February questioned whether the state should continue its involvement in highway namings.

The Senate still must give the bill a final reading. Senate Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, who sponsored the initial legislation, said he’d call it up Friday, the last day of the session.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached

at alysonraletz@npgco.com.