Judge candidate's residency challenged

The Butler County prosecuting attorney's office filed a petition last week challenging Rocky Kingree's qualifications to become Division II associate circuit judge in the county.

Ted Thompson, an assistant prosecuting attorney, filed a three-count petition against Kingree and Butler County Clerk Tonyi Deffendall in an attempt to have Kingree removed from the general election ballot.

Kingree, who lives in Van Buren, Missouri, and is the Carter County prosecuting attorney, was the lone Republican on the ballot for Tuesday's primary election, but whether he remains on the general election ballot soon will be in the hands of a judge.

A date has not been set for the petition to be heard, as Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett recused himself from the case and sent it to the Missouri Supreme Court for a new judge to be assigned.

"It seems the prosecutor, on behalf of Democrat John Bloodworth, believes that he should choose the judge and not the voters of Butler County," Kingree said in a statement.

Kingree said he finds "this type of politics to be despicable, especially in judicial campaigns. I look forward to my day in court to ensure Butler County citizens get the right to choose who they want to elect in November."

This lawsuit, according to Kingree, comes on the "heels of Republicans showing a tremendous amount of support for my campaign in the primary."

Although he doesn't live in Butler County, Kingree's name appeared on the Republican primary ballot after a June 27 hearing in which Circuit Judge Fred Copeland of New Madrid County entered an order directing Deffendall to place his name there.

Kingree filed his declaration of candidacy for associate circuit judge with Deffendall's office March 25, the last day to file.

On his declaration form, Kingree listed himself as a resident and registered voter of Carter County.

The next day, Deffendall mailed a certified letter to Kingree informing him he was disqualified as a candidate because he did not meet the one-year county residency requirement in a new state law.

Deffendall, according to earlier reports, said she acted on the advice of Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher.

Kingree subsequently said he would establish his residence in Butler County before the election as required by the Missouri Constitution.

However, the state constitution also requires candidates to meet other qualifications. The one-year residency law became effective Aug. 28.

Kingree did not attempt to challenge being disqualified until he learned about a June 19 ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, involving the Missouri Secretary of State's office and Natalie Vowell, a state representative candidate.

The ruling, according to Kingree, stated "an election authority is not allowed to adjudicate election qualifications and is without authority to remove a citizen's name from the ballot."

On June 24, Kingree filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, requesting a judge to order Deffendall to place his name on the ballot.

While Kingree's qualifications were not at issue during that hearing, the Butler County prosecuting attorney's office now is making them the issue to be considered with its petition.