51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� 51黑料 County Executive Sam Page is likely the first person to be criminally charged under a Missouri law that bars the use of public money for a political cause, according to four legal experts and two political observers.

His case could become a litmus test for a law that has mostly been used by state ethics authorities to issue civil fines, they said.

鈥淚 am not aware of any time in Missouri history that someone has been indicted for this type of activity,鈥� said Chuck Hatfield, a prominent Democratic attorney in Jefferson City who has litigated numerous government cases.

For decades, political entities including cities, schools, libraries, fire districts and counties have used public money to distribute campaign mailers educating voters about the potential impacts of proposed tax increases and ballot issues.

State law requires those flyers to be neutral 鈥� they can鈥檛 advocate for a vote one way or the other.

But earlier this year, University City resident Tom Sullivan filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission and Secretary of State accusing Page of using public money to create and distribute flyers that clearly advocated against a ballot proposition giving the County Council the power to fire Page- appointed department heads.

The Secretary of State鈥檚 office referred the matter to prosecutors. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey鈥檚 office sought an indictment from a grand jury. And on Wednesday, Page was charged with two counts of election offenses, which are misdemeanors, plus two felony counts of stealing 鈥� one of $25,000 or more, representing what the county paid in the postage to mail out the flyers.

Several lawyers and political observers said this week they can鈥檛 remember an elected official ever being charged under the state election law that prohibits using public money to 鈥渁dvocate, support, or oppose the passage or defeat of any ballot measure or the nomination of election of any candidate for public office.鈥�

Some also said they couldn鈥檛 remember felony stealing charges ever being used in such a circumstance.

Page鈥檚 attorney, former U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, on Wednesday denied wrongdoing by Page, and said they look forward to 鈥渉is day in court.鈥� Jensen declined comment on Thursday.

Bailey spokeswoman Abigail Bergmann did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For decades, whistleblowers have filed complaints about alleged campaign violations.

The results have been mixed. Sometimes the state ethics commission has issued fines. In other cases, the accusations have been dismissed altogether.

For example, in 2017, a whistleblower in Greene County accused county commissioners and the sheriff of illegally using staff time and other public resources, including mailers, to advocate for a sales tax increase to fund a jail expansion.

The following year, the county reached a settlement with the Missouri Ethics Commission to pay a $100 fee. Officials admitted that the by providing an incorrect disclosure about who paid for the pamphlets. The commission did not weigh in on the misuse of public resources.

In 2022, two residents, including Sullivan, who filed the complaint against Page, sued University City over mailers for a quarter-percent sales tax increase for the fire department, arguing the flyers leaned in favor of it.

A judge dismissed the case, and the Missouri Ethics Commission dismissed a similar complaint that the city was advocating for the ballot measure in a newsletter.

Last year, residents of St. Joseph filed a complaint about a school district superintendent, claiming he and others used their public emails to advocate for an April bond issue.

In February, the Missouri Ethics Commission ruled on the case, fining the district and the superintendent $1,000. If the fine was paid within 45 days, the district owed only $100.

Attorney General Bailey鈥檚 office also pledged to investigate the emails as well as other alleged conflicts of interest. That inquiry was ongoing, reported last week.

Sullivan has been making similar accusations for years. He says he has become frustrated with allegations being forwarded to prosecutors or ethics authorities only for people to be let off the hook. It鈥檚 important to hold people accountable, he said.

鈥淚f there was no enforcement for people robbing banks, people would be robbing banks every day,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 going on with these election laws.鈥�

Former Missouri Supreme Court judge Michael Wolff said results come down to people鈥檚 definition of advocacy.

Political entities have the right to put out information to explain the potential impacts of a ballot measure, Wolff said. But two people can look at the same piece of information 鈥� even if it is presented neutrally 鈥� and come away with different perspectives, he said.

鈥淪ome people would say, 鈥楾hat sounds like a bad idea.鈥� Some people would say, 鈥業t鈥檚 a good idea,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淏ut is that advocacy?鈥�

David Stokes of the libertarian Show-Me Institute said he hopes the charges against Page, regardless of the outcome, would make governments think twice about how they mount educational campaigns.

鈥淎nd if governments just stop doing this entirely and leave it up to voters, that would be even better,鈥� Stokes said.

Page is set to appear in court Aug. 29.