O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri judge ruled Friday that the state’s Republican governor, not a local Democratic official, has the power to fill a vacancy in the prosecutor’s office of the state’s most populous county.
A spokesperson said St. Louis County would appeal St. Louis Circuit Judge Brian May’s decision siding with Gov. Mike Parson over St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. Both Parson and Page argued that they had the authority to replace Attorney General Wesley Bell, a Democrat, who will take a seat in the U.S. House next month and represent the city of St. Louis and part of neighboring St. Louis County represents.
The ruling by May, an appointee of former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, means a Republican governor will choose the top prosecutor for a Democratic-leaning county. While President-elect Donald Trump carried the state by more than 18 percentage points, he lost St. Louis County by 23 points, and Bell won his congressional race by a 4-to-1 ratio over his Republican challenger.
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May’s ruling is based on a section of the Missouri Constitution that states the governor “shall fill all vacancies in public offices, except as otherwise provided by law.” Page argued that the county statute that allowed him to fill the vacancy qualified as a different law.
“The voice of St. Louis County residents is being taken away when the charter language is ignored,” Page’s spokesman Doug Moore said in a statement. “We do not agree with the decision and will appeal.”
Parson’s spokesman, Johnathan Shiflett, did not immediately respond Friday to an email seeking comment on the ruling, but he also cited a law that says the governor “shall appoint a competent person” when a prosecutor becomes vacant .
Parson and Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Page and the county in November to block Page from making the appointment.
Then earlier this month, Parson and Page made their own appointments to fill out the final two years of Bell’s term, with elections for a full four-year term in 2026. Bell defeated U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in the Democratic primary. in August and will be sworn into Congress on January 3.
The Republican governor chose Melissa Price Smith, a 56-year-old assistant prosecutor in St. Louis County who has worked in the office since 2008. She currently oversees the team that prosecutes sexual violence and child abuse.
The Democratic county executive chose Cort VanOstran, a 36-year-old federal prosecutor for eastern Missouri who left that job when Page appointed him. He handled fraud, embezzlement, identity theft, conspiracy, drug distribution and gun crimes, according to a news release from Page’s office.
Bell said in a statement that he does not like the precedent set by May’s ruling, but added that Smith was one of the internal candidates he recommended. He said he was pleased Parson appointed her, although he agreed Van Ostran “would be a competent leader.”
May made his ruling two days after a court hearing, stressing at the start of his 11-page opinion that his decision was not “a reflection of the individuals named by the Governor or the County Executive.” Instead, he ruled that the attorney general is a state official, not a county official.
“This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that an attorney general’s authority is not limited to crimes that occur only within the geographic boundaries of his or her province,” May wrote. “For these reasons, the Court concludes that the Governor has exclusive authority to fill the anticipated vacancy.”
Neighboring St. Charles County saw its prosecutor resign last year, and the Republican county executive named a replacement unopposed by Parson.
But May said that situation “has no bearing” on his ruling, “as there is no indication that such action by the province has resulted in any litigation, let alone a court ruling on the issues presented here.”
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.
