CLAYTON, Mo. — St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell’s Office has had to resubmit 114 traffic cases after discovering the attorney assigned to them did not have a law license in good standing.
The problem surfaced after court clerks tried to enter his bar number into the system, according to a statement from Bell’s spokesman, Chris King.
5 On Your Side is not naming the attorney in question because the attorney has not been charged with a crime.
“Our office promptly self-reported this matter to both the presiding judge of St. Louis County Circuit Court and the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Missouri Supreme Court,” King wrote. “(The attorney) remains employed as a retiree intermittent attorney and is working to complete the CLE credits he needs to be reinstated by the Missouri Bar.”
King noted the attorney had served in the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for nearly 25 years before retiring to “deal with a major medical issue.”
The attorney was hired as a retiree intermittent attorney June 26 after a screening by the St. Louis County Division of Personnel, King wrote.
5 On Your Side is awaiting a response from St. Louis County Executive Sam Page's spokesman regarding how the attorney made it through the hiring process without a license in good standing.
The attorney’s part-time hourly wage is $24.45 an hour, with no benefits and the attorney was assigned to work on traffic cases, according to the statement.
“His license had expired because he had not kept up with mandatory Continuing Legal Education,” King wrote. “His license has never been revoked nor suspended but rather lapsed over the Continuing Legal Education mandate.”
Lawyers in Missouri must complete 15 hours of continuing legal education classes, including two hours of professionalism, ethics or malpractice prevention credit, per year.
“A supervising attorney has since pulled the cases (the attorney) dismissed and signed them anew and resubmitted the dismissals,” King wrote. “The dispositions he signed are being vacated and will be resubmitted by a supervising attorney.”
