Updated at 6 p.m. with additional comments from Hancock
A St. Louis County Councilman will retain his availability to do his job amid an effort to oust him from office over nepotism accusations.
Earlier on Tuesday, St. Louis County Judge Julia Pusateri Lasater barred St. Louis County Councilman Dennis Hancock from performing any of his duties after he sought to hire his stepdaughter to be his assistant. The Missouri Constitution bars anyone from hiring relatives, and the punishment is expulsion from office.
But hours later, St. Louis County Judge John Borbonus issued an order setting Lasater’s order aside. Borbonus wrote that Hancock shall not be “immediately enjoined from engaging in any activity, or any authority, as” a councilmember.”
“There's no rush to do this,” Hancock said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Before Bonbonus’ ruling, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell is pursuing what’s known as a “quo warranto” to remove Hancock from office. He added that Hancock will have the opportunity to respond to the move and have his day in court.
“The Missouri Constitution is clear and unambiguously prohibits elected officials from hiring a relative,” Bell said in a statement. “The Missouri Constitution is also clear that upon hiring a relative, an elected official forfeits his or her position. The Constitution does not give discretion or take lapses in judgment into consideration.”
“I take no pleasure in pursuing this action, but based on the clear language of the constitution it would be a dereliction of our duty to not bring this matter before the court,” Bell added.
Hancock said he tried to hire his stepdaughter because he “needed an assistant, she was available, I trust her, she's capable and she has all the requisite qualifications.”
“I acknowledge that I made a mistake, but that's all it was,” Hancock said. “It wasn't anything nefarious. It wasn't anything that was designed to defraud the county in some way, shape or form. But now that I'm aware of it, it's not going to happen again.”
He added that his stepdaughter ultimately decided not to work for him after realizing that there would be a conflict.
“She was never a county employee. She's never been paid,” Hancock said. “She spent a couple of days in the office last week, and she made that clear that she did that on her time as a volunteer.”
Because Hancock was allowed to vote during Tuesday’s meeting, a ballot measure allowing the St. Louis County Council to have its own attorney ended up passing by a 4 to 3 margin. Before the meeting, Hancock said he suspects that the push was made to bar him from operating as a councilmember to stall the vote on the county council attorney measure.
“What’s happened today and yesterday is exactly the reason why we need to have our own counsel,” Hancock said.
Hancock was elected to represent the Council’s 3rd District in 2022. He had previously served as the mayor of Fenton, and was, for the most part, critical of Page's administrative and budgetary moves since joining the council.
If Hancock is permanently expelled from the Council, there would likely be a special election to represent the district, which includes municipalities such as Kirkwood, Valley Park, Fenton and Town and Country. The 3rd District is generally seen as the most competitive Council district between Republicans and Democrats.
“I'm not going anywhere,” Hancock said. “I was elected to do a job, and until a judge tells me I can't do it. I'm going to do it.”
St. Louis Public Radio's Brian Munoz and Rachel Lippmann provided information for this story.
