State of Missouri on the Information of Ronald S. Reed, Jr., Special Prosecuting Attorney of Clay County, Missouri v. Michael E. Reardon, Prosecuting Attorney of Clay County, Missouri

Summary

The Supreme Court of Missouri dismissed as moot an appeal from the denial of a quo warranto petition seeking to remove the Clay County prosecuting attorney for alleged willful violations and neglect of official duties. The court held that the respondent's term had expired, making ouster under section 106.220 impossible and leaving no practical controversy. The court distinguished precedent involving additional relief such as fines and costs.

Holdings

1. The appeal was moot because Reardon no longer occupied the office from which the petition sought to oust him, making the only relief authorized by section 106.220 impossible to grant.
2. Section 106.220 authorizes forfeiture and removal from the covered public office, but does not authorize the additional fines, levies, forfeitures, or other relief requested in the petition.
3. The appeal was not preserved as a live controversy by the special prosecutor's request for costs because assessment of costs was also moot once the underlying claim became moot.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the appeal was moot because Reardon's term as Clay County prosecuting attorney expired while the appeal was pending.
2. Whether section 106.220 authorized any relief beyond forfeiture and removal from the public office.
3. Whether the court should reach the merits of the alleged unauthorized expenditures and failure to require fee remittance.

Disposition

dismissed