Rod Jetton returns to state government

Rod Jetton, former Missouri House speaker and ex-Bollinger County commissioner, has returned to government service in Jefferson City.

In 2011, after leaving the state House, Jetton was placed on probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault.

The De Soto, Missouri, native was also the focus of 2010 bribery allegations, but a grand jury did not return any indictments.

Jetton, a 1986 graduate of Charleston (Missouri) High School, began work in August as assistant deputy director in the Motor Vehicle and License Division, part of the state Department of Revenue (DOR).

"I believe in second chances," DOR director Wayne Wallingford of Cape Girardeau said in an interview with the Southeast Missourian. "(Rod) is a Marine, and Marines work hard. He has a lot of contacts at the state Capitol."

Jetton has written several books since his days as a lawmaker.

In 2013, he is credited as a co-author of the book "The Recovering Politician's Twelve-Step Program to Survive Crisis."

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