51黑料

The county charter is clear, the lawyers said: If a county executive resigns, dies, is recalled 鈥� or is convicted of a felony 鈥� the office becomes vacant. The attorneys agree the charter language means Page would automatically no longer be the county executive.

鈥淚f the county executive is convicted of a felony, the office by law becomes vacated,鈥� 51黑料 lawyer Terry Niehoff said via a text message.

Attorney Scott Rosenblum, who has represented public officials in criminal cases, and Chuck Hatfield, an attorney in Jefferson City who has litigated numerous government cases, agreed.

Page was indicted Wednesday on charges that he stole thousands of dollars when he used county funds to campaign against a ballot proposition. Page spent more than $25,000 to create flyers and mail them to more than 50,000 registered voters, investigators wrote in court documents.

Two of the charges Page faces are election offenses, which are misdemeanors. But the two stealing counts, which allege Page stole public funds when he spent the money on the flyers, are felonies.

Legal and political experts said the case against Page is unprecedented. Several said he is the first person to be criminally charged in Missouri for using public money to pay for flyers to sway voters.

Page鈥檚 attorney, former U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, has denied any wrongdoing by Page.

An indictment alone, however, can cause a huge blow to public officials. They have resigned in the face of political pressure or prosecution.

In April 2019, former County Executive Steve Stenger was indicted on federal bribery and corruption charges. He resigned the same day.

If the county executive鈥檚 office becomes vacant, the County Council then chooses a temporary replacement, according to the .

The person the council chooses must be a member of the same political party as the previous county executive. It doesn鈥檛 have to be a council member, according to the county鈥檚 Republican elections director Rick Stream, but the council has chosen from its own ranks in the past.

Voters then select a county executive in the next general election. The winner fills the remainder of the previous county executive鈥檚 unexpired term, or a full term if the general election coincides with a county executive election year.

After Stenger quit, the County Council chose Page, then the council chair, as the temporary county executive. In the November 2020 general election, voters elected Page to finish Stenger鈥檚 term.

Page won his first full, four-year term in 2022. He鈥檚 up for reelection next year.

Before Stenger, the county faced a vacancy in its top office following the death of Democratic County Executive George R. 鈥淏uzz鈥� Westfall in 2003. The council chose its chair, Charlie Dooley, to replace Westfall.

Dooley won reelection to two full terms until Stenger ousted him in a primary in 2014.

Page hasn鈥檛 spoken publicly about resigning.

He is set to appear in court Aug. 29.