Outgoing House leader gets corrections board post

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Departing Democratic House Leader Wayne Crump was appointed Friday by Gov. Bob Holden to a position on the state Board of Probation and Parole.

Crump, 52, is a cattle farmer and former deputy sheriff in Washington County who served 20 years in the House before term limits prevented him from seeking re-election this year.

Members of the parole board serve six-year terms and their nominations are subject to approval by the state Senate. Board members earn $74,112 annually -- more than twice the $32,851 salary Crump received in the legislature.

Crump said he took the parole board position partly for the money. He expected to be sworn into the new job next week.

"I'm term limited out for one thing, and I don't have a job," said Crump, who spent 11 years as chairman of the House Corrections Committee. "I'm too young to draw a pension, so I need to keep working until I can draw retirement."

Crump said he had been applying for a position on the board for last six years and now is looking forward to finally getting his chance.

"I think my record over 20 years shows I will be pretty tough on crime," said Crump, who also supports alternatives to incarceration for first-time offenders. "Violent offenders, we need to keep them locked up to make sure they don't commit another crime."

The board is responsible for determining whether inmates should be paroled or conditionally released from state prisons. The board also is responsible for overseeing the supervision of those on probation and parole.

Crump is replacing Jandra Carter, whose term expired. He was not immediately available for comment Friday. Crump is from Potosi, home of the Potosi Correctional Center where Missouri carries out its executions.

He is the second member of the House Democratic leadership team to land a state job.

Rep. James Foley, D-St. Ann, took a job as the director of policy development for the Economic Development Department earlier this year. Foley was the assistant House majority leader.

Other term-limited lawmakers also have found work with state agencies this year.

House Clerk Ted Wedel said Friday that Rep. Chris Liese, D-Maryland Heights, resigned earlier this month and that Rep. Judy Berkstresser, R-Crane, had submitted her resignation effective Jan. 1. Berkstresser was elected Nov. 5 as the Stone County clerk. Had she not resigned, her legislative term would have run until Jan. 8

Earlier this year, Democratic state Rep. O.L. Shelton of St. Louis resigned and took a job at the Missouri Department of Economic Development office in St. Louis.

Rep. John Hickey, D-Bridgeton, was appointed by Holden to the state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission, as was state Sen. David Klarich, R-Ballwin.

Rep. Phil Britt, D-Kennett, resigned and was appointed by local judges as a drug court commissioner for Dunklin and Stoddard counties.