St. Louis County Executive Sam Page’s nominee to be the county’s next prosecutor is moving ahead with the transition despite uncertainty over whether he will have the job.
Page nominated Cort VanOstran on Dec. 3 as the replacement for Wesley Bell, who will resign the post Jan. 2 to serve in Congress. But Mike Parson has challenged Page’s authority to make the appointment, asserting it is his responsibility as governor.
VanOstran said Friday he has already met with Bell and members of his leadership team and planned to meet with the office’s front-line prosecutors on Friday.
“This is not a place to play political games, because we're talking about public safety here,” he said. “There's really nothing more important than that. So that has got to be my first and highest goal, is making sure we have a smooth transition.”
VanOstran unsuccessfully challenged Republican Rep. Ann Wagner for the 2nd Congressional District seat in 2018. He had spent the past 15 months as a federal prosecutor, handling a variety of cases.
He said he would use both of those experiences in his new role.
“In this position, you want someone who really listens carefully to the concerns of the county. As a candidate for Congress, I spent a long time doing exactly that,” VanOstran said. “This is really an opportunity to do both things, to bring my technical skills as a prosecutor to bear, to make sure that people in the county are safe, but also to make sure that their interests are represented in the prosecutor's office.”
VanOstran said he found many of the changes Bell made to the office “very meaningful.”
“I want to preserve a lot of things that he has done in the office, around equity, conviction, integrity and diversion programs,” VanOstran said.
He added that as the head of the prosecutor’s office, he would give front-line attorneys “clear lines of communication, a clear chain of command, and the autonomy to be able to do their job.”
Even if courts rule that Page has the authority to appoint VanOstran, he’ll still need approval of the county council. Two of its four Democratic members have expressed their support, while some of its Republican members said they were waiting to meet with VanOstran before weighing in.
VanOstran said he looked forward to working with the council to keep the county safe.
“I'm very fortunate to have good relationships among a lot of different folks on the county council, including folks that don't always agree,” he said.
According to the county’s charter, the council must act on VanOstran’s nomination within 30 days of Page notifying it of his pick. But 7th District Councilman Mark Harder, R-Ballwin, said he had asked for a legal opinion about whether the clock would start when the position became vacant. That could leave an important post open until early February.
