After scathing report, Missouri governor fills vacancies on ethics watchdog
The Missouri Ethics Commission will now have enough members to investigate complaints of ethical misconduct after Gov. Mike Kehoe on Friday filled two vacancies on the commission.
The appointments from Kehoe, announced Friday afternoon, came just days after a scathing report became public criticizing the fact that the commission didn’t have enough members to conduct investigations, issue fines or hold meetings.
The Ethics Commission enforces the state’s campaign finance and ethics laws, serving as Missouri’s ethics watchdog. A shortage of members on the six-member commission has resulted in dozens of complaints thrown out with no investigation over the past two years.
Kehoe, in his announcement, appointed to the commission Jim Martin, a U.S. Army veteran and retired school instructor from Perryville, and Ken McClure, a former mayor of Springfield.
Martin and McClure will serve as acting commissioners until they are confirmed by the state Senate. But the appointments mean the commission will now have four members, or a quorum, for the first time this year.
Kehoe’s announcement came three days after The Star highlighted a report from Progress MO, a progressive advocacy group, that blasted Kehoe and his predecessor, Gov. Mike Parson, for not filling vacancies on the commission.
While the appointments came after the report became public, a spokesperson for Kehoe told The Star earlier this week that the governor was interviewing candidates and looked “forward to appointing members to the Commission soon.”
The report argued that inaction by Kehoe and Parson had “quietly dismantled” the commission, which at the time only had two members. The vacancies left the state open to abuse, the report concluded.
Specifically, the report found that the commission had taken no action on at least 50 complaints over the past two years, including 26 this year and 24 in 2024. From 2010 to 2024, the commission took no action on a total of 22 complaints, according to the report.
While Kehoe’s appointments gave the panel a quorum, he still did not fill all seats on the commission, which Progress MO and a spokesperson for the Missouri Democratic Party pointed to in statements to The Star on Friday.
“After nearly a year of letting the MEC sit idle, Gov. Kehoe has finally made two appointments, just enough to get the Commission moving again, but only under mounting pressure,” said Claire Cook-Callen, Progress MO’s executive director. “These bare-minimum moves may satisfy a requirement, but rebuilding public trust requires more than last-minute actions.”
Chelsea Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the Missouri Democratic Party, said in a statement that while the party was pleased with the appointments, “the job isn’t done.”
“With hundreds of millions flowing into Missouri elections, Missourians deserve a commission that will enforce the law, not just fill a quorum,” Rodriguez said.
Representatives from the Missouri Republican Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
