CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court panel ruled Thursday that the state’s Republican governor — and not the Democratic county executive of St. Louis County — has the power to appoint a replacement for the outgoing prosecutor. province.
The ruling apparently ends the legal dispute between Governor Mike Parson and County Executive Sam Page. The province then announced that Parson’s appointee, Melissa Price Smith, will be sworn in on Friday. She will replace Wesley Bell, a Democrat who was elected to Congress in November. Bell will be sworn into Congress on Friday in Washington DC
The appeals court ruling affirms a December ruling by a circuit judge. The ruling came hours after attorneys for state and county leaders argued the case before a three-judge panel, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
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“Because the prosecutor performs essential state functions as a state official, the governor has the constitutional and statutory authority to make the appointment to fill the vacancy,” Judge John P. Torbitzky wrote.
Last month, Parson and Page each appointed different people to fill the final two years of Bell’s term, with an election to a full four-year term in 2026. Parson chose Smith, a 56-year-old assistant prosecutor in St. Louis County , who has been working in the office since 2008.
Page chose Cort VanOstran, a 36-year-old federal prosecutor for eastern Missouri who left that job when Page appointed him.
