Felony-convicted coroner can stay in office until sentencing

Determining how and when an elected official can be removed from office is a difficult process.

It is strictly guided by Missouri statutes and leaves little wiggle room for municipalities.

Perry County is the most recent municipality in the area to find itself brushing up on the state's public office forfeiture statutes. County Coroner Herbert Miller was found guilty of financial exploitation of the elderly and theft during a jury trial last week.

Judge Benjamin Lewis will sentence Miller on Dec. 11 in Perry County.

"The Perry County Commission believes, until sentencing is completed, any comment concerning the guilty verdicts brought against County Coroner Herbert Miller on Oct. 15 for theft and exploitation of the elderly would be premature," stated a news release from the county.

The news release stated until he is sentenced, Miller, "as an elected county official, remains by state law, Perry County's coroner."

Missouri statutes require a person holding public office, elective or appointive, who convicted of an offense to forfeit the office if the office holder is convicted of a felony or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to an offense involving misconduct in office, or dishonesty. Those convicted of felonies are ineligible to hold any public office under Missouri's government.

Both of Miller's charges are Class B felonies.

The officeholder forfeits the office after the sentencing, according to the statutes.

Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz also said the county did not want to make any "premature" comments but said if the county finds itself without a coroner in December, it will follow Missouri law.

"[State statute] defines what occurs in the temporary absence of a coroner," he said in an email.

He cited a section that states the county sheriff or his chief deputy "shall, in the temporary absence of the coroner and deputy for any reason, perform all the duties imposed by law upon the coroner."

Perry County does not have a deputy coroner.

Appointing replacements for county officials is up to the governor, Kutz added.

The next scheduled election for county coroner is November 2016.

Perryville, Missouri, faced a situation similar to the county's in 2013 when its police chief faced allegations of professional misconduct and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making a false report. Keith Tarrillion voluntarily resigned from the position to which he was elected.

In exchange for the guilty plea to the misdemeanor offense, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of forgery stemming from an improperly filed police report.

Because Tarrillion was an elected official rather than an appointed employee, the city could not fire him. Instead, it entered into a memorandum of understanding with Tarrillion under which he resigned in exchange for receiving his full salary and benefits until the charges were filed against him.

A measure seeking to convert the position of police chief from an elected position to an appointed position was placed on the ballot in November 2013, but it was overwhelmingly rejected by Perryville voters.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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