CLAYTON — Four members of the St. Louis County Council this week sued County Executive Sam Page over the right to name the county’s next prosecuting attorney.
The councilmembers argued Page has an illegal plan to bypass the council in naming a new prosecutor to replace Wesley Bell, who was recently elected to Congress.
“It is apparent that County Executive Sam Page intends to usurp the councilmembers’ authority and personally appoint a replacement prosecutor,” said the lawsuit filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court on Tuesday.
County law says the county executive may pick someone to fill a vacancy in the prosecutor’s office, subject to council approval. Page has said he plans to appoint his pick, former federal prosecutor Cort VanOstran, as an interim if the council refuses to approve him.
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The councilmembers — Republicans Mark Harder and Dennis Hancock, and Democrats Shalonda Webb and Rita Heard Days — want a judge to bar Page from “independently selecting and placing any person into the office of the Prosecuting Attorney without Council confirmation, and from appointing an ‘acting’ prosecutor as a permanent replacement as a way to circumvent the County Council’s authority.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has also filed suit against Page and the county saying Gov. Mike Parson gets to name a replacement for Bell, not Page. Parson named St. Louis County assistant prosecutor Melissa Price Smith as his pick to replace Bell.
A judge heard arguments in Bailey’s case on Wednesday.
St. Louis County and the state took their battle over the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney pick to the courts on Dec. 18, 2024. St. Louis County argues that it should have control over current prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell’s replacement, while the state says the governor has the right.
