The Kansas City Star Highlights Progress MO’s Report on Missouri Ethics Commission’s Intentional Dismantle

A recent Kansas City Star article, “How Missouri’s ethical watchdog was ‘quietly dismantled,’ according to new report,” highlights a report from Progress MO detailing how prolonged vacancies have effectively dismantled the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC or Commission) and exposing a critical failure in enforcing Missouri’s campaign finance and ethics laws.

This intentional inaction has prevented the MEC from investigating dozens of ethical misconduct complaints across the state.

The MEC, set up as a six-member panel, is responsible for enforcing the state’s ethics laws and investigating complaints. However, due to a deliberate and severe lack of appointments by Governor Mike Kehoe and his predecessor, Gov. Mike Parson, the Commission has consistently lacked a quorum, which requires at least four members for any official decision. This deficiency has made the MEC unable to operate, with at least 50 complaints dismissed without investigation over the past two years. This figure is a sharp contrast to the total dismissals from 2010 to 2024, as noted in Progress MO’s findings. 

“These prolonged delays in seating the MEC are not procedural oversights,” the report said. “They reflect a deliberate decision by political actors and state leaders to weaken the only body responsible for enforcing ethics laws that target themselves and their allies.”

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