Dean Plocher

He was arguably the most powerful politician in Missouri until he faced allegations of corruption and sexual assault. Now it’s Rod Jetton’s job to help another speaker navigate accusations of misconduct.

After 5 hours in a closed-door meeting, members say they accept Dean Plocher’s explanation of reimbursement, personnel issues and await a Missouri House Ethics Committee report.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, is accused of pressuring staff to buy expensive software and seeking state reimbursement of campaign-paid expenses.

Accused of threatening legislative staff and stealing from taxpayers, Dean Plocher has denied any wrongdoing and rebuffed calls for his resignation.

Patterson is slated to become speaker of the Missouri House in 2025 — though the current speaker’s woes are putting a brighter spotlight on the Lee’s Summit Republican.

A second hearing is set in November to continue review of actions by the embattled speaker, who also is facing questions about seeking reimbursement for campaign-paid expenses.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher is facing calls for his resignation following revelations that he filed false expense reports with the legislature to be personally reimbursed for travel already paid for by his campaign.

The top lawmaker in the Missouri House filed false expense reports numerous times since 2018 and began paying back the money he received last week.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher's bid for the state's Lieutenant Governor's seat comes months initially floated his candidacy and weeks after he was accused of ‘unlawful’ conduct by legislative staff.

Speaker of the House denies accusations uncovered in public records that he threatened staff when pressing for the legislature to award a lucrative contract to a private company.