O’FALLON, Mo. — 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 for 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 County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, a Democrat, who is due to take a U.S. House seat next month representing the city of St. Louis and part of neighboring St. Louis County.
The ruling from May, an appointee of former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, means that a Republican governor will pick 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 GOP challenger.
May’s ruling is based on a section of the Missouri Constitution that says the governor “shall fill all vacancies in public offices, unless otherwise provided by law.” Page argued that the county’s charter — allowing him to fill the vacancy — qualified as another law.
“The voice of St. Louis County residents is taken away when charter language is ignored,” Page’s spokesperson Doug Moore said in a statement. “We disagree with the decision and will appeal.”
Parson’s spokesperson, Johnathan Shiflett, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment about the ruling Friday, but he has also cited a law saying that the governor “shall appoint some competent person” when a prosecutor’s office becomes vacant.
Parson and Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Page and the county in November to prevent Page from making the appointment.
Then, earlier this month, both Parson and Page made their own appointments to fill out the last two years of Bell’s term, with an election for a full, four-year term in 2026. Bell defeated U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in the Democratic primary in August and is to be sworn into Congress on Jan. 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 supervises the team that prosecutes sexual assault and child abuse.
The Democratic county executive picked 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 firearms offenses, a news release from Page’s office said.
Bell said in a statement that he doesn’t like the precedent set by May’s ruling but added that Smith was among the internal candidates he recommended. He said he was pleased that Parson appointed her, though he agreed that Van Ostran “would be a capable leader.”
May issued his ruling two days after a court hearing and emphasized near the beginning of his 11-page opinion that his decision was not “a reflection on the individuals named by the Governor or County Executive.” Instead, he ruled that the county prosecutor is a state official, not a county official.
“This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that a county prosecuting attorney’s authority is not limited to crimes that only occurred within the geographical boundaries of his or her county,” May wrote. “For these reasons, the Court concludes that the Governor has the exclusive authority to fill the anticipated vacancy.”
Neighboring St. Charles County had its prosecutor resign last year, and its Republican county executive named a replacement with no opposition from Parson.
But May said that situation “has no bearing” on his ruling, “as there is no indication that any such county action resulted in litigation, let alone a determination by a court concerning the issues presented here.”
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.
