Lawsuit Challenges Newly Elected Official
Posted By J.T. on January 4, 2011
Cass County prosecutor Teresa Hensley is suing to get presiding county commissioner Herschel Young removed from office because he has a prior felony conviction, which — according to Missouri statute — means he can’t hold elective office.
From kansascity.com :
Young, a Republican, said the lawsuit is politically motivated and unfair to voters who elected him. He acknowledges the 1995 conviction but says the rap is rather benign compared with other officeholders.
“There’s guys in office who committed IRS fraud and embezzlement — all I did was slap a guy because he spit on my wife,” Young said.
For that, he pleaded guilty to felony assault, was given a suspended entence of three years and was placed on probation for three years.
But a Missouri statute says no person shall qualify as a candidate for elective office if he or she has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony.
Hensley filed a Petition in Quo Warranto on Monday stating Young’s 1995 felony assault conviction disqualified him from holding office.
From the Belton Star-Herald :
Hensley said Missouri law requires her to file the petition when the primary issue is the qualfication to hold office.
“I believe that once Mr. Young took office, Missouri law requires that the prosecutor seek removal of an officeholder who does not qualify to hold that office,” she said. “Missouri case law has clearly stated that a quo warranto is an action to protect the public against usurpation of a public office and that the public is the real party in interest here.”
Young pleaded guilty on June 29, 1995, to the Class C felony of assault, and was sentenced by then-Circuit Court Judge Joseph Dandurand to three years of supervised probation.
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